When you think of business rivals on All My Children, no one crosses your mind except for Palmer Cortlandt and Adam Chandler, who have been rivals for decades.

But last week, we said goodbye to both of these business titans, as Palmer (James Mitchell) died and Adam (David Canary) left town with Brooke (Julia Barr).

Palmer’s funeral was nicely done.
They used clips that James Mitchell had ad libbed during his final scenes in the anniversary special, mixed with flashbacks of him in his prime.

I like the way that they used Palmer’s death to realistically affect Adam. It showed him how short life is.

Here’s a really nice tribute to James Mitchell.

And seeing Nina (Taylor Miller) and Daisy (Gillian Spencer) again was great. I just wish that James Mitchell and Palmer didn’t have to die for it to happen.

But I can tell you that if you had told me last year, we’d have a show where Nina, Daisy, Brooke, and Jackson were in the vast majority of the scenes, I would’ve called you nuts.

But AMC put all these vets, and more, in to make the memorial special.

The three best parts of the memorial were when Brooke said to kiss her aunt Phoebe, when Erica (Susan Lucci) pointed out that heaven is in for quite a time with Palmer, Myrtle and Mona all together, and, of course, when Dixie (Cady McClain) welcomed him into heaven. I was even able to look past the hair coloring change that made no sense.

And then, we have Adam, who skipped town with Brooke after finding Annie and JR in bed.

Brooke (Julia Barr) and Adam (David Canary) Photo: ABC/Rick Rowell

I like the way they took Adam off the screen with Brooke by his side.

And yes, I like the fact that Annie (Melissa Claire Egan) is now free to be with JR, as I think they are great (see my column about AMC’s new couples).

An era is ending on AMC with the loss of Palmer and Adam.

But it’s been a fun ride watching it end.

The new writing at All My Children is evident now more than ever with the heating up of couples we never would have expected.

When Adam (David Canary) and Annie (Melissa Claire Egan) got married, we all knew she’d cheat on him. But we all thought it would be with his nephew, Scott (Adam Mayfield), not with Adam’s own son, JR (Jacob Young).

David Canary (Adam), Melissa Claire Egan (Annie) and Jacob Young (JR) Photo: ABC/Carol Kaelson

JR and Annie are, frankly put, hot.

J.R. isn’t as interesting when paired with boring Marissa (Brittany Allen). Not that Allen is a bad actess, but the writers didn’t need to make her Babe 2.0. She isn’t a very interesting character. And we know that they do have feelings for each other.

Then, we have David (Vincent Irizarry) and Greenlee (Rebecca Budig).

AMC is going back to basics in this marriage of convenience turned into a love story.

Hey, it worked for Zach and Kendall, why not for David and Greenlee.

I personally find David and Greenlee (dubbed GreeD by online fans) to be great. They’ve certainly mixed it up having Greenlee marry her former brother-in-law.

Rebecca Budig (Greenlee) and Vincent Irizarry (David) Photo: Adam Larkey/ABC

And even if the focus of this entry is about new couples, I’d like to give a final shout out to Alicia Minshew (Kendall) and Thorsten Kaye (Zach) on their brief return.

Finally, there’s one last person to mention.

Since the new writing regime, we’ve been seeing a lot more of Jackson (Walt Willey). And he has been sharing screentime with Erica (Susan Lucci), of course.

But with Krystal (Bobbie Eakes) going to work for him, will Erica find competition?

Jackson (Walt Willey) and Krystal (Bobbie Eakes) Photo: Michael Yarish/ABC

AMC is changing it up in many ways, but will these new (and possibly up and coming) couples, will it enter a new era of greatness?

By LuAnne

My friend Linda, who I met at Super Soap Weekend a few years ago, picked me up at Newark Airport. We immediately hopped on a train into NYC and then took a cab over to the All My Children studios in hopes of seeing a few soap stars.

We saw Melissa Claire Egan (Annie) and David Canary (Adam) from a distance. After David went in, one of my favorite veterans came out with a beautiful bouquet of roses – it was Julia Barr, who played Brooke English for many years. Julia told us she was there to film scenes for the AMC 40th Anniversary Special. She graciously stopped for a quick picture, and then went on her way.

Next we saw both Chrishell Stause (Amanda) and Ricky Paull Goldin (Jake). They stopped briefly to talk to us and signed some pictures. Chrishell was absolutely beautiful, and Ricky was looking pretty good too!

Linda and I then decided to walk over to the One Life To Live studios. We stayed for awhile, and finally were rewarded when down the street came Brian Kerwin, who plays Charlie. Brian stayed to talk and take pictures for about 10 minutes. He was so pleasant, and seemed genuinely happy to talk to us. It was a good day in NYC!

The next day, Linda drove us to the Uncle Vinnie’s Comedy Club in Staten Island for an AMC Fan Event.

Four of the nicest and most attractive men from AMC then walked on stage: Vincent Irizarry (Dr. David), Michael E. Knight (Tad) , Darnell Williams (Jesse) and Ricky Paull Goldin (Jake) were welcomed with thunderous applause, screams and whistles. It was awesome to see them 10 feet away!

The first part of the event was a question and answer session. The fans asked about many things, including the upcoming move to Los Angeles.

Vincent said that he would be commuting, at least for the rest of the school year so that his children can stay in their current schools. Michael and Ricky said they were moving to L.A. and Darnell said he was going, but he’s lived in NYC all his life and it would be hard to leave the city.

We found out that Jill Larson (Opal), who is a recurring player, was also moving. The fans were in agreement that the cast should come back to NYC for fan events. The guys answered questions for over an hour, then took a short break before meeting with the VIP fans.

All four of the actors took seats at long tables, and we were able to speak to each of them for a few minutes and get our pictures taken with them. Michael took the most time with the fans, even though he was sick. But they all seemed happy to be there and gave the fans what we came for – a great time!

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Yesterday’s anniversary show wasn’t anywhere near what I was expecting, and that turned out to not be such a bad thing.

Interviewing the show’s characters in documentary style was a great way to not only fill in blanks on old and new characters and story lines, but also gave the show a modern feel.  It probably also enabled them to show more flashes of clips throughout the show.

There were many moments that made me tear up, like Greg’s (Laurence Lau) admission that it’s hard to return to Pine Valley due to memories of first love Jenny (Kim Delaney), and some that cracked me up, like when Nina (Taylor Miller) declared her father Palmer Cortlandt (James Mitchell) was the reason she came to Pine Valley, and ultimately the reason she left with husband Cliff (Peter Bergman).  Anybody familiar with their love story had to LOL at that one. 

“Brooke who” coming from Erica was classic!  Watching Hayley (Kelly Ripa) comfort Adam (David Canary) over Stuart’s death was long overdue.

LOVED watching reflections on the lives of Mona and Myrtle by Erica (Susan Lucci), and her thoughts on daughters Bianca (Eden Riegel) and Kendall (Alicia Minshew). 

But Erica should have also mentioned her ONLY son Josh (Colin Egglesfield) during the “Loss” segment. 

I found the focus on baby Gabrielle strange considering how she was conceived.  I doubt Kendall would appreciate her sister predicting Gabby will be the strongest Kane woman of them all.

LOVED the quickie wedding flashbacks, ALL of them, along with all the Hubbard flashbacks.

Glad we got to see Hayley onscreen with her brother and chatting with Amanda (Chrishell Stause) during her interview.  Wanted more flashbacks of the Dillon clan though.

Ryan’s (Cameron Mathison) interview was a nice subtle segue way into Greenlee’s (Rebecca Budig) imminent return.  And it was great to finally hear straight from a Santos how much Julia (Sydney Penny) meant to them – but Edmond (John Callahan) doesn’t even rate an honorable mention by soul mate Maria?  Huh? 

Understandably, David (Vincent Irizarry) mentioned losing Babe, but not brother Leo (Josh Duhamel)?  No flashbacks either?  If nothing else why not at least try to capitalize on Duhamel’s current popularity.  Duh!

LOVED Brooke (Julia Barr) and Opal’s (Jill Larson) recollection of daughters Laura and Jenny, but how could Brooke not lovingly recollect Aunt Phoebe (Ruth Warrick) as well? 

Jacob Young is such an awesome actor, he made me feel JR’s pain all over again – but no mention of mom Dixie?  And Joe (Ray MacDonnell) and Ruth (Lee Meriwether) could’ve mentioned Grandma Kate, Philip and Tara.

My gripes?  Not enough homage paid to older story lines that got the show to the forty year mark.  I know Charles Pratt wrote these episodes and either he lacked knowledge of AMC history or intentionally highlighted his story lines and characters.  Or both.

Also, I thought Kendall and Zach (Thorsten Kaye) had already left town?

It was strange not seeing some originals like Alexa Havins (in my opinion, Babe’s most memorable story lines occurred during her run) and particularly, Marcy Walker’s Liza.  She played such a huge part in AMC history, its a shame that fans didn’t get to relive any of that via flashbacks or dialogue.

But it was the vets, some of whom aren’t even on the canvas, that really made me long for those two full episodes even more.  Nevertheless, this was a unique way to present forty years of All My Children history, and although there were holes, I enjoyed it.  Did you?

LOVED Adam calling Annie out on her games yesterday!

I must admit to being a big Annie (Melissa Claire Egan) fan ever since she turned to the dark side.  Sweet Annie bored me to tears, and had she died some untimely soap opera death I wouldn’t have been mad. 

But now I can’t imagine AMC without her.

Annie’s good at manipulative games and can play Scott, Jesse, Ryan, Erica and Zach easily.  But she wasn’t nearly ready for the master! 

So glad to see the REAL Adam Chandler (David Canary) back on my screen instead of the caricature we’ve witnessed since Stuart’s death. Although I hope Annie’s not done yet because she is entirely too much fun to watch.

And how great was JR?

Watching him man up to his father was classic. 

The old JR would’ve quickly stepped in to fill the void, yet while his love for Adam is obvious, he’s finally learned some lessons and is putting himself and his family first.  Dixie would be proud!  I’m not crazy about JR/Marissa but she’s obviously doing something right.

I enjoyed Kendall’s daydream too, reminded me of why I liked Zendall in the first place. I’ll miss them when Thorsten Kaye leaves.

Although I’m glad Aiden Turner is getting screen time, I don’t like twisted Aidan Devane.  But for me, this story is believable because when Aidan/Kendall first hooked up (long before Zach or Greens were competition) I liked them together and wondered why TPTB didn’t write for them.

Aidan has consistently loved and lost so his anger isn’t a stretch. But Kendall was sooo hypocritical while consoling Aidan because it’s her fault Greenlee dumped him. Not to mention when Kendall had the audacity to say Aidan went “just a little too far” in his pursuit of Greenlee. Pot, meet kettle.

But it is karmic justice that after Kendall has gone psycho on men in her life for not loving her, Aidan is now returning that favor.

And I don’t get Kat yet. Is she doing all this hoping to eventually hook up with Aidan?  But it’s interesting that Kendall is SO predictable when it comes to her jealous streaks that Kat knows exactly which buttons to push.  Speaks volumes about Kendall.

And I had to give it to Erica, she got to let Adam have it too and was right on point. I have always enjoyed their friendship and it made sense that Adam would go straight to La Kane for comfort.

Annie (Melissa Claire Egan) and Scott (Adam Mayfield) Credit: ABC/Steve Fenn

Scott is dead wrong for flirting with/kissing Annie, but I felt for him today. He’s been trying to latch onto someone since his father’s death and could lose the only family he has thanks to her.

I got the same impression from Randi recently (worried about losing her family) since she just wants Madison gone so her family can move on. These two have a lot in common … things that make ya go hmmm …

Finally, I wish Annie didn’t lose that baby. 

Not just because I like Annie, but because I love Adam. 

After the whole Krystal/Jenny debacle, I’d like to have seen him get another chance with a child that really is his, and an Annie/Adam offspring could be future soap opera magic/drama. 

[Editor's note: Several sources are reporting that embattled AMC headwriter Charles Pratt is gone. Wonder what this means for current and future storylines? - Michele]