After a week away from you guys, I'm back -- and I'm ready to jump right back in to the dishing.

Some of you blast it as "recycled storylines" and others of you say it's like trying to reinvent the wheel. However, not every pre-owned storyline is a déjà vu flop. There are some storylines that are revisited over the years that actually work when there are different characters involved.

Adam's romance with Annie isn't the first time that he's been involved with a much-younger woman. Two decades ago, Adam set his sights on a young Dixie Cooney -- and he made her life miserable. In the 2010 version, it's Annie who seems to be getting the better of Adam. I am not sure if he's known it all along, but it does appear to me that the little lightbulb over Adam's head is finally starting to illuminate.

There have certainly been highs and lows to their storyline, and I don't give Adamnie much of a chance of lasting through the month. (I have no idea what the couple is really called in 'net speak, but I've never been one to shy away from an opportunity to make a pun.) Anyway, moving on... I think Adam and Annie would have been more entertaining if they both gave each other a hard time. That hasn't been the case as it was with, say, Adam and Erica. Obviously, Adam is beginning to realize that there's more to a relationship than just having a young, hot thing on his arm. How else do you explain Adam's dreaming of Brooke?

That's not to imply that Brooke isn't a hot thing, but I think there's more substance to Brooke and there is certainly more of a history between Adam and Brooke. Adam's display of concern when Brooke talked about missing Jamie and Laura was touching -- and it's not often that Adam shows that type of concern unless he's planning to use it against someone. Do we want Brooke and Adam to go off into the sunset happily ever after? No! We want them to stay in Pine Valley! I guess if they have to go, though, this is the way to do it.

Erica has gone tête-à-tête with Annie and Greenlee in recent years, and so many of us agreed that it wasn't anywhere near the type of catfights that Erica had with Brooke. Although, the very idea of Erica giving Annie a "swirlie" in the ladies' room still makes me laugh. This past week, Erica and Brooke had their first encounter since Brooke's return to Pine Valley. It wasn't quite what I was expecting. It was almost civilized. Okay, I know that many of you feel like Erica Kane acts like a perpetual teenager (she's the Dick Clark of Pine Valley) and want her to grow up, but I like the childish fights she has with other women.

Though Damon is a punk, it's entertaining to watch Tad, Jesse, and Angie realize that they were once Damon's age and involved in their own teenage drama. Okay, so maybe they weren't quite as bad-ass as he is, but that's not the point. I know I often watch kids in my neighborhood and wonder, "I was never that bad, was I?" Ugh, I sound like an "old person." At least I haven't used "whippersnapper" in a column yet. Well, not counting that one.

Just when you thought you could take your eyes off of Damon because of his "bonding" with the other bad-ass kid in the hospital, the kid becomes the poster child for why you shouldn't text and drive at the same time. Am I the only one that thought Damon might not be able to read? He seems to freak out every time he is asked to look at something with words on it. So getting back to Damon as The Punk Whisperer, I wonder what the point is of making such a "big deal" out of Damon's apparent gift. Will he continue the Martin legacy of doctors (even if he isn't technically a biological Martin)? More importantly, will he best the 16 months it took Jamie to get his license to practice medicine? Damon acted like a total jerk with his "You talk and you talk, man, but I don't hear a thing." Then he threw a hissy fit and stomped away. Just when I was kinda liking the character... Hencefore, I dub thee Demon.

Then there's Erica and Jack. It didn't really occur to me until I was refreshing myself with Jack's history in anticipation of Walt Willey's appearance on Soap Central Live, that Jack has been chasing Erica pretty much for 23 years. Okay, so there may have been some periods in there when they were both otherwise involved -- but still. Jack and Erica hooked up while Erica was married to Jack's brother, Travis. Here we are in 2010 and Jack and Erica are doing the same old pas de deux.

Walt Willey dropped by my radio show, Soap Central Live, last week and told me that some of the best Jack and Erica scenes are coming up over the next few weeks. He also states that Susan Lucci has an incredible sense of comedic timing -- one that will be put to use soon. I did enjoy Erica ranting and raving about how "rude" Jack was acting on their forced date. She went on a tirade about how she didn't care for his story about "Itsy or Bitsy or whatever the heck her name was." [If you missed Walt and me chatting on the air, fear not! You can listen to the show at any time by clicking "Soap Central Live" at the top of any page of the site, or by clicking here.]

Every now and again, All My Children hits on something that, while probably mundane in the tawdry world of soap operas, is a big deal in the world we all live in. That's the situation with Jake and Amanda's reluctance to let Jane, the nanny-slash-babysitter, take care of little Trevor. Though I don't have any children of my own just yet, I've seen folks around me go through the panic of leaving their little one for the first time. So it was cute that Amanda sneaked away from her lunch date with Jake to call the sitter and check on Trevor. Even more amusing to me was that Jake was doing the same thing while Amanda was away. They are going to drive poor Jane crazy!

The show needs to bring on some new male characters because I'm not thrilled with the love prospects for Greenlee. The idea that she and David might soon really be in love isn't a good look; they work much better as friends. Didn't AMC learn that lesson from the Ryan and Erica debacle? And not for nothing, but I refuse to believe that Ryan and Greenlee are each other's one true love. That's what the show wants us to believe through its ad campaign. Gillian was Ryan's true love. And for Greenlee, it was Leo. I haven't really liked any of Ryan's recent romances because he always comes off as a jerk. He wasn't really a jerk with Erica, but it didn't matter because no one seemed to like the two of them together.

Maybe Gillian didn't die and she was whisked off somewhere for her own protection by Anna Devane. If that's the case, then whose heart was transplanted into Laura? That can bring Laura back to town... and give Brooke another reason to stay in Pine Valley.

Regardless of the little things that we may find annoying, there's no denying that All My Children is much more watchable now than it has been over the past year or two. Everything old truly is new again -- and it's like discovering All My Children all over again.

dan