All My Children - General Discussion

[JAYJAY1979]

On 4/7/2020 at 11:11 AM, Camille said:

I've often said that some of soaps best stories and couples have been unintended. From what I remember when that storyline first aired, Maria was probably only intended as an interloper for Edmund and Brooke, especially considering that he pined away for her the entire time they were dating, but at some point, the writers realized that they had something good going, hence the abrupt retcon of Edmund declaring that MARIA was the love of his life.

Maria was meant to be in the Dillon orbit but the show noticed her chemistry with Edmund and they shifted gears.

Her 'death' in 1997 was tragic because she'd just been united with her baby..and had found out right before the crash that Edmund was the father of Maddie...and she sacrificed herself to ensure her baby lived.

[Dr.OO7]

58 minutes ago, JAYJAY1979 said:

Maria was meant to be in the Dillon orbit but the show noticed her chemistry with Edmund and they shifted gears.

That's right, I remember that now. I'm glad they changed plans, because I think she and Trevor would ultimately not have worked, even though I don't deny that sparks definitely flew in their interactions.

FYI, Laurel is one of several roles that Eva LaRue auditioned for (along with that of Gloria and Kendall) before winning the role of Maria.

[Crs97]

Fun interview with Tad and Dixie

and Cady’s husband, too

Edited May 9, 2020 by Crs97

[Silver Raven]

Spoiler

Jesse McCartney was the Turtle on the Masked Singer.

 

[gpgurl50]

Next week, EW is doing a full week long video interview with the cast.  The photo of everyone is pretty nice to see.

https://ew.com/tv/ew-reunites-all-my-children-cast/

Here is the full list of cast members involved in the reunion: Jennifer Bassey, Tamara Braun, Justin Bruening, Rebecca Budig, Mark Consuelos, Josh Duhamel, Bobbie Eakes, Melissa Claire Egan, Ricky Paull Goldin, Alexa Havins, Michael E. Knight, Jill Larson, Eva LaRue, Susan Lucci, Cameron Mathison, Cady McClain, Billy Miller, Alicia Minshew, Sydney Penny, Kelly Ripa, Leven Rambin, Eden Riegel, Chrishell Stause, Walt Willey, Darnell Williams, and Jacob Young.

[Pearson80]

Walt Willey is still gorgeous, hot damn! I always loved Jack and Erica and I cheered when Jack walked away from Erica in the last episode of the show.. I am on the east coast and till this day I never watch anything at 1pm on ABC out of solidarity to All My Children. I have never gotten over the cancellation but I digress.  I always thought it was a mistake that the show did not keep Jack and Erica together as a family with their large brood after they got married.  The stories and conflict should have arise organically without needing to break up Jack and Erica for the millionth time..

Edited May 29, 2020 by Pearson80

[Steph J]

On 5/8/2020 at 4:47 PM, Camille said:

That's right, I remember that now. I'm glad they changed plans, because I think she and Trevor would ultimately not have worked, even though I don't deny that sparks definitely flew in their interactions.

I genuinely cannot imagine Maria and Trevor together as a romantic couple - and I say that as someone who willingly suspended all disbelief in order to accept that Trevor would fall for Robin Mattson's Janet.

[Mecca]

3 hours ago, Pearson80 said:

I always loved Jack and Erica and I cheered when Jack walked away from Erica in the last episode of the show.

I thought that was the perfect ending for Erica because after 10 marriages, I highly doubt Jack would be the one to make her settle down.   Erica's "the one" was always herself.  

These interviews have been nice.  With almost 10 years removed it seemed like no one felt the need to toe the line and the actors for the most part were able to give their real opinions about the show.

Billy Miller probably shouldn't have been invited to this.  His stint was short and to me, not that memorable on AMC.  Josh Duhamel was on the show for a short time as well, but at least he made an impression.   As someone who liked Ryan and Greenlee together, I appreciated Cameron, Rebecca and Melissa acknowleding that, yes, they did have fans.  lol  Never could understand why some people felt that Greenlee and Ryan should only be allowed to have one great love in their life.  That's just not possible on a soap.

I'm sure with that ABC special that aired a few weeks ago and now these interviews, it has stirred up a renewed interest in the genre.  I'm still in the camp that too much time has passed and any AMC revival would be an empty shell of the soap that I once loved.  Too many actors have moved on or passed away.  I'd rather they made old episodes available to watch instead.  Would love to see some of the late 80's early 90's episodes that I have a hazy memory of from when I was a kid.

[ByaNose]

First off, I hadn’t realized how different Christelle Stause looked when she started on AMC. She looks like a completely different person which is odd since she’s still young and hasn’t had that much done. Secondly, Josh Duhamel is 10 times better looking now then he was back then. Everyone seems to love Cameron Mattheson and they all were very happy about their time on AMC. There’s something about the NYC soaps. Those cast always seemed closer to me. It seems like the California soaps did their scenes and booked out the studios. 

[Hiyo]

Quote

Robin Mattson's Janet.

I liked her Janet.

Quote

Would love to see some of the late 80's early 90's episodes that I have a hazy memory of from when I was a kid.

Check out this account on Youtube. It has hundreds of full length episodes from the 80s, 90s, and 00s. And not just AMC, but other shows as well, like Guiding Light. As the World Turns, OLTL, Capitol...

[Dr.OO7]

24 minutes ago, Hiyo said:

Quote

Robin Mattson's Janet.

I liked her Janet.

So did I. She did an excellent job with her. I was completely on her side throughout most of the things she did.

[Mecca]

7 hours ago, Hiyo said:

Check out this account on Youtube. It has hundreds of full length episodes from the 80s, 90s, and 00s. And not just AMC, but other shows as well, like Guiding Light. As the World Turns, OLTL, Capitol...

What is the name of the account? I can't see a link. 🙁

[Hiyo]

Ooops! My bad.

https://www.youtube.com/user/munecojim/videos

Best thing about this account? It is still uploading episodes regularly.

[Dr.OO7]

4 hours ago, Hiyo said:

Ooops! My bad.

https://www.youtube.com/user/munecojim/videos

Best thing about this account? It is still uploading episodes regularly.

I love her. (I'm assuming it's a she)

I once stayed up all night watching ANC episodes from the mid-90's.

[Steph J]

12 hours ago, Hiyo said:

I liked her Janet.

 

11 hours ago, Camille said:

So did I. She did an excellent job with her. I was completely on her side throughout most of the things she did.

It always blew my mind that AMC had Robin Mattson, a great actress who excelled doing both comedy and drama and had great chemistry with her cast mates, but seemed determined to get rid of her for no good reason. There were at least two occasions (maybe more?) when they'd decided to fire her only to have change course because of the backlash - the first was during the Janet/Pierce/Brooke triangle, when they were going to have Janet get plastic surgery so that she could double for Brooke and the role would have been taken over by Julia Barr; I can't recall the story that was going to happen the second time, but I remember hearing the rumor about it from the soap recapper on Northwest Afternoon and thinking, "JFC, why don't they know how good they have it having Robin Mattson?"

[Dr.OO7]

12 hours ago, Steph J said:

"JFC, why don't they know how good they have it having Robin Mattson?"

Apparently not.

After all the excellent work they did to redeem Janet and make her a respectable citizen--one of the most realistic and extensive  character redemptions soaps have ever done--I was very disappointed when she returned as "Janet From Another Planet" yet again.

ETA that someone named AddieCate has  also been posting a lot of early-to-mid 90's episodes from GH, Loving, and AMC.

Edited May 31, 2020 by Camille

[Hiyo]

There is an article on the main page about Susan's emmy win, for anyone interested.

https://www.primetimer.com/features/beat-by-beat-the-time-susan-lucci-broke-her-daytime-emmys-streak

[Crs97]

My UO:  I thought Susan Lucci should not have been nominated that many times.  She was an average actress, and I hated how her losses started to take away from other people’s wins.

[Steph J]

Susan Lucci may have been an average actress, but she was a great soap actress.  My favorite thing about her win is how it seemed like it wasn't just the AMC/ABC people who were happy for her, but the entire room.

I bet the AMC cast/crew had the best party that night.

[CanaryFan98]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/celebrity/john-callahan-s-ex-wife-eva-larue-claims-someone-broke-into-actor-s-home-stole-his-identity-after-death/ar-BB17itiR?li=BBnb2gh

John Callahan's Ex-Wife Eva LaRue Claims Someone Broke into Actor's Home, 'Stole His Identity' After Death

John Callahan's identity was allegedly stolen in a home burglary shortly after his unexpected death in March, according to his ex-wife Eva LaRue.

The actress, 53, opened up about mourning her ex-husband and former All My Children costar in an interview published on Tuesday, describing the process as a "roller coaster" while claiming that someone had broken into the actor's house and "stole" his possessions following his death.

"It has definitely been a roller coaster because not only is my daughter grieving so hard, but I'm grieving separately in my way, too, because he has been my great friend," LaRue, who is mom to Callahan's 18-year-old daughter Kaya, told Fox News.

“And at the same time, somebody broke into his house right after he died and stole his identity, his car, his laptop,” she continued. “They have been taking out loans and credit cards in his name and they’ve siphoned money out of his bank account – it's been a nightmare. A nightmare."

LaRue told the outlet that she's been dealing with the aftermath, but has been having a hard time trying to remedy the situation.

"As you can imagine, every phone call is being put on hold for like 20 minutes or an hour or two hours, and then people being like, ‘I'm sorry, we can't help you.’ It's just like a bureaucratic nightmare,” LaRue said. "Every phone call that we make to try to fix the situation is just insane."

“It's just sick and messed up,” she added. “And I mean, the good thing is that they're circling the wagons around this person. And so he's going to get caught. But in the meantime, it's wreaked such havoc for the last four months, like such crazy havoc."

PEOPLE has not been able to confirm with authorities if there is an active investigation.

Callahan passed away on March 28 at the age of 66 after suffering a stroke.

The actor played Edmund Grey on ABC’s All My Children from 1992 to 2005. During that time, he met LaRue, who played his love interest Maria Santos. The couple were married from 1996 to 2004.

In the wake of Callahan's passing, LaRue paid tribute to her ex in statement saying, “We are extremely saddened and distraught over the loss of John.”

“He was my great friend, co-parent and amazing father to Kaya. The absence of his bigger than life, gregarious personality will leave a hole in our hearts forever. Words cannot express the shock and devastation we are feeling at this time. The Yankees just lost one of their greatest fans,” LaRue added.

She also commemorated him with a lengthy post on Instagram, recalling his “big belly laugh, bear hugs, bad puns, ability to harmonize to any song, great kitchen table singing-fests, and two steppin bad a–!”

“Kaya and I are beyond broken-hearted, so stunned, sorry that my thoughts are a mess,” she wrote. “You gave the best most beautifully written tributes, and I am at a complete loss for words right now for you. I hope Heaven has baseball and that your team always wins!"

[WendyCR72]

If you want something to watch, Peacock has Hunter on its new streaming service for free. Obviously old, but there are two episodes from S5 alone where I spied former AMC actors: Mark LaMura in "Code 3" as an ER doc with a fairly-substantial role and ditto role-wise for Dorothy Lyman in "The Pit".

I also remember Darnell Williams appeared on the show in the Season 4 episode, "The Fourth Man", too.

Great seeing all of them, but also odd in that Hunter was an NBC show, so I'm rather surprised it used actors from competitor ABC than NBC's soap actors. But talent is talent!

[Dr.OO7]

I know this technically isn't the thread for this (or maybe it is, given all the crossovers in 1992), but it was 25 years ago that the "Loving Murders" kicked off.

There's a YouTube channel devote to them, but it's the promos I remember the most:

 

 

 

 

[Hiyo]

That was actually a pretty good storyline, regardless of why they did it and what it led to.

[Dr.OO7]

On 8/7/2020 at 5:59 AM, Hiyo said:

That was actually a pretty good storyline, regardless of why they did it and what it led to.

I thought so too.

I don't think they should have revamped it into "The City". I get that TPTB were trying to give it a ratings boost, but it clearly didn't work.

[Hiyo]

Quote

I know this technically isn't the thread for this (or maybe it is, given all the crossovers in 1992)

Well, beyond just 1992...Angie Hubbard was also a regular character on the last few years of Loving, and survived the move to The City, as did her son Frankie. Jeremy Hunter was also a transplant from AMC as well in the 90s, but unlike Angie, he didn't make it onto The City...and was even the final victim during the "Loving Murders"!

So if you're going to discuss this particular storyline or era of Loving, the AMC thread is probably the place for it 😉

 

[Steph J]

On 8/6/2020 at 7:22 PM, Camille said:

I know this technically isn't the thread for this (or maybe it is, given all the crossovers in 1992), but it was 25 years ago that the "Loving Murders" kicked off.

Weirdly, I was recently watching the 1992 crossover story, which was the Carter Jones saga:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John Wesley Shipp is so good at playing creeps.

Edited August 10, 2020 by Steph J

[Dr.OO7]

3 hours ago, Steph J said:

Weirdly, I was recently watching the 1992 crossover story, which was the Carter Jones saga:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John Wesley Shipp is so good at playing creeps.

Are you watching muncejom's channel? (She added a ton of episodes from the early-mid-late 90's) a few years ago.

Do you know where I could find the Loving episodes from that storyline? It was the happiest day of my life when my school schedule let me get out at 1:30 so that I could catch half of All My Children, but that was unfortunately too late to catch Loving. 

It's a shame its ratings were never very good.

(What happened to that idiot sister of his who refused to accept what a psycho he was?)

Edited August 10, 2020 by Camille

[Steph J]

28 minutes ago, Camille said:

Are you watching muncejom's channel? (She added a ton of episodes from the early-mid-late 90's) a few years ago.

Do you know where I could find the Loving episodes from that storyline? It was the happiest day of my life when my school schedule let me get out at 1:30 so that I could catch half of All My Children, but that was unfortunately too late to catch Loving. 

It's a shame its ratings were never very good.

(What happened to that idiot sister of his who refused to accept what a psycho he was?)

I watched the lead up on AMC on munecojim's channel.  The actual crossover episodes of AMC and Loving I impulse bought from a DVD seller while my city was on lock down and I was going insane trying to find things to occupy my time.

It's funny, I remember in the '90s thinking of Loving as the "budget soap," but it's production values are positively lavish compared to soaps today.

31 minutes ago, Camille said:

(What happened to that idiot sister of his who refused to accept what a psycho he was?)

She was real sorry.

[Dr.OO7]

2 hours ago, Steph J said:

She was real sorry.

I spent that whole story wanting to shake some sense into her.

 

2 hours ago, Steph J said:

It's funny, I remember in the '90s thinking of Loving as the "budget soap," but it's production values are positively lavish compared to soaps today.

Yep. I still remember GH pulling off two huge eye-candy events within just a few weeks if each other (Ned and Lois' wedding and the Nurses Ball) back in 1995. Nowadays, even before this nightmare, you wouldn't even see one.

I wonder why the ratings were never very good (aside from being up against a ratings powerhouse like Y&R), because from what little I saw the few times I caught it, it was a very good show.

[Steph J]

10 hours ago, Camille said:

I wonder why the ratings were never very good (aside from being up against a ratings powerhouse like Y&R), because from what little I saw the few times I caught it, it was a very good show.

It was a good show - to be honest I've kind of fallen in love with it decades after the fact.

I think the ratings issue was down to a combination of factors, the main one being that several markets just didn't air it. You can't reach viewers who don't have a means of watching your show (from what I understand, in many of the markets where it did air it actually beat Y&R).

The show also had issues with consistency because of the frequency with which it changed EPs and Head Writers.  I've read some fans include the number of recasts the show had as part of its consistency issues, but in all honesty I don't think the problem was that it had a greater number of recasts than other shows, but that it tended to be the same few characters being recast over and over in relatively short spans of time. Recasting the same character twice in one calendar year is unusual, but Loving did that a lot.

Finally, I think the show just didn't have a lot of external support.  It hardly ever got the cover of any of the soap magazines and I don't think ABC ever really did a lot to promote it (though I'm of course going off memory and this was a long time ago now).  If One Life to Live was treated like the redheaded stepchild of the ABC line up, then Loving was the child ABC's husband had by his mistress in terms of how the network treated it.

[Hiyo]

I always thought the show was ok. I think if they had done what B&B did - have the AMC characters crossover earlier in the shows run, and have the characters crossover back and forth - it might have given it more of a ratings bump.

But, if nothing else, this will always be the show that gave us a character who faced the rough and terrible addiction to cough syrup.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

the rough and terrible addiction to cough syrup

To be fair, addiction to cough syrup has been a real thing because the prescription versions often have codeine. I'm even scared to take the over-the-counter version of Robitussin, lol.

Yeah, Loving was a non-starter for me though I was loyal to AMC and OLTL until the end. Those were the only ABC soaps I was ever interested in. I'm not sure Loving even aired in my SW market.

[Dr.OO7]

On 6/26/2020 at 7:36 PM, Crs97 said:

hated how her losses started to take away from other people’s wins.

I hated that too. No matter how phenomenal the winning actress' work was--Erika Sleazak, Cynthia Watros, etc--it was all about how Lucci had lost yet again. 

And as thrilled as I was when she finally won, she didn't deserve it that year. 

On 8/26/2020 at 9:44 AM, Joimiaroxeu said:

I'm not sure Loving even aired in my SW market.

Between that and being up against Y&R, that's precisely why it (and Port Charles) were doomed.

[junemeatcleaver]

Michael B. Jordan pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman.

 

[ByaNose]

Just started re-watching AMC from August of 1981. Opal & Jenny are just showing up in Pine Valley. OMG! Dorothy Lyman is hysterical as she tries to push Jenny in to the modeling world. Opal is horrible to Jenny one minute and then hugging her the next. I remember watching this “live”. It was summer before my sophomore year in high school and the ABC soaps were all the bomb. Good times. 

[giovannif7]

Sad news about Ben Jorgensen, who played gay teen Kevin Sheffield in the 90s during a tumultuous coming out story. He has died at age 51. According to this report, he may have succumbed to the same mental illness as castmate Roscoe Born. 😥

[boes]

15 hours ago, giovannif7 said:

Sad news about Ben Jorgensen, who played gay teen Kevin Sheffield in the 90s during a tumultuous coming out story. He has died at age 51. According to this report, he may have succumbed to the same mental illness as castmate Roscoe Born. 😥

How sad.  I've never forgotten his character.

[Steph J]

On 10/8/2020 at 6:20 PM, giovannif7 said:

Sad news about Ben Jorgensen, who played gay teen Kevin Sheffield in the 90s during a tumultuous coming out story. He has died at age 51. According to this report, he may have succumbed to the same mental illness as castmate Roscoe Born. 😥

That's very sad.  I'm up to March '96 on munecojim's channel, so I'm just past the part where Kevin comes out and Laurel is killed and into the part where Michael is in court trying to get his job back. The whole story from Michael initially coming out to friends/family through coming out in class and getting suspended and up to his court case still holds up incredibly well.  It's very powerful storytelling.

 

On 9/13/2020 at 4:20 PM, ByaNose said:

Just started re-watching AMC from August of 1981. Opal & Jenny are just showing up in Pine Valley. OMG! Dorothy Lyman is hysterical as she tries to push Jenny in to the modeling world. Opal is horrible to Jenny one minute and then hugging her the next. I remember watching this “live”. It was summer before my sophomore year in high school and the ABC soaps were all the bomb. Good times. 

I've never seen Dorothy Lyman's Opal, only read about things that the character did while she was playing her, and I have such a difficult time reconciling those storylines with the version of Opal that Jill Larsen played.

[ByaNose]

59 minutes ago, Steph J said:

That's very sad.  I'm up to March '96 on munecojim's channel, so I'm just past the part where Kevin comes out and Laurel is killed and into the part where Michael is in court trying to get his job back. The whole story from Michael initially coming out to friends/family through coming out in class and getting suspended and up to his court case still holds up incredibly well.  It's very powerful storytelling.

 

I've never seen Dorothy Lyman's Opal, only read about things that the character did while she was playing her, and I have such a difficult time reconciling those storylines with the version of Opal that Jill Larsen played.

I can say that Lyman’s Opal would never have been bff with Erica. First off, Opal was too trashy for Erica. Secondly, Lucci was really jealous of Lyman because Opal became a breakout character and that Lyman won the Emmy that Lucci was pining for at that time. 

[Pearson80]

On 10/10/2020 at 9:00 PM, Steph J said:

That's very sad.  I'm up to March '96 on munecojim's channel, so I'm just past the part where Kevin comes out and Laurel is killed and into the part where Michael is in court trying to get his job back. The whole story from Michael initially coming out to friends/family through coming out in class and getting suspended and up to his court case still holds up incredibly well.  It's very powerful storytelling.

 

That was a very good story and his coming out to his class was very powerful. I always got the impression that Kevin's brother  who killed Laurel was gay as well.  The show kept on hinting that he was and his self-hatred for being gay was fueling his intense homophobia against Michael.  

I hated Laurel, what an awful character.  It was creepy how she zeroed in on Natalie and her family..

Speaking of Natalie, I thought Timmy's raw grief with dealing with her death was well-done. 

Edited November 1, 2020 by Pearson80

[Crs97]

On 10/10/2020 at 10:02 PM, ByaNose said:

Secondly, Lucci was really jealous of Lyman because Opal became a breakout character and that Lyman won the Emmy that Lucci was pining for at that time. 

Not the first time we have heard that Lucci wasn’t kind to an actress who won an Emmy before her.  That is disappointing.

Cady McClain (Dixie) has started her run as Jennifer on DOOL.

[giovannif7]

A prime time resurrection of AMC? I definitely want to hear more about it before I get my hopes up.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

A prime time resurrection of AMC?

Meh, I'd be a lot more excited about this if KR weren't involved. Wonder if they'll get any of the OG cast? I can't see many of the reboot cast wanting to be involved since most of them have moved on to other things. The biggest question would be Susan Lucci.

Edited December 17, 2020 by Joimiaroxeu

[boes]

13 minutes ago, giovannif7 said:

A prime time resurrection of AMC? I definitely want to hear more about it before I get my hopes up.

Wouldn't that be wonderful!

[JayD83]

I. JUST. FAINTED! 

[junemeatcleaver]

21 minutes ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Meh, I'd be a lot more excited about this if KR weren't involved.

She's probably one of the few people who has interest in this with enough connections, influence and pull to get an AMC reboot (continuation?) off the ground.

I can see TPTB bringing it to Freeform with the characters re-imagined as teens or young adults.  I can't see any network, ABC, Lifetime, streaming or Freeform, greenlighting a show with a 74 year old woman as the lead unless they do something like the new Dallas did.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

She's probably one of the few people who has interest in this with enough connections, influence and pull to get an AMC reboot (continuation?) off the ground.

And she probably won't let anyone forget it. 😏

I'd be fine without the re-reboot frankly. Sometimes these things should just remain in our unvarnished memories IMO. The Dallas reboot was not successful and seemed to fall apart once they lost Larry Hagman. I think the main reason the new Dynasty is working is because it has very little plot and is mostly a showcase for women's clothing and interior design.

Quote

a show with a 74 year old woman as the lead

It wasn't my suggestion that SL be the lead. But the fact remains that most of the old fans will be expecting to see her at some point, especially if this new show is broadcast on ABC. She is as much the face of the show as Hagman was for Dallas.

[SingerIslander]

I would have preferred the 2013 version from Prospect Park if it had been more focused on the next generation with an occasional drop in from AMC's veteran characters.  This sounds good to me as long as it doesn't rewrite AMC's history.  That's my one big ask of any show that calls itself a sequel or reboot of AMC.    

  

 

   

[Steph J]

7 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

It wasn't my suggestion that SL be the lead. But the fact remains that most of the old fans will be expecting to see her at some point, especially if this new show is broadcast on ABC. She is as much the face of the show as Hagman was for Dallas.

I'm curious about the primetime reboot but, in all honesty, without Susan Lucci (and Agnes Nixon behind the scenes in some capacity) I don't think it would really feel like All My Children to me. It would just be another generic prime time soap.

Given that Kelly and Mark are the ones behind it, I imagine that the most likely returning faces would be Mateo (pass), Maria (PASS), and Ryan (HARD PASS).

[SingerIslander]

Based on Kelly Ripa's anniversary celebration on LIVE with Kelly and Ryan just a few months ago, I think you can add Sarah Michelle Gellar to that list too, and that won't work for me.  SMG is a good actress with an Emmy to her credit from playing Kendall but for 10 years, Alicia Minshew was Kendall, building a beautiful relationship with Binks and Erica, falling in love and raising her boys.  I loved AM's Kendall and didn't particularly like SMG's.  

If it happens, that kind of casting, hiring a good friend over the one who played the role longer and as an adult who actually grew and matured in that time frame, would make me think this show is more of a vanity project for Kelly, her hubby and her friends, each of whom hadn't been on AMC for years (other than some cameos in 2011), rather than a sincere reboot.  I know that's a cynical way of looking at it, and hey, it might not happen.  Maybe SMG would rather do other things or would be too busy to play Kendall again.  But if it goes that way, I'd be very disappointed.