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Your best and worst (soap by soap)


DRW50

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Since most of our favorite soaps are gone now, I thought it might be fun if we did this little thread, and took one soap at a time, over a day, or a few days, or a week (or, if no one replies, for all eternity), just one soap, and list some of our favorites and least favorites.

I thought we could start with AMC. I know not everyone watched AMC, but hopefully the soaps you watched will come soon.

Anyway, my categories (if you have any of your own please suggest them).

Favorite/least favorite male character

Favorite/least favorite female character

Favorite/least favorite couple

Favorite story

Least favorite story

Funniest scene

Favorite/best scene

Favorite/least favorite scene.

Best recast

Worst recast

If there were one or two characters you wished you could put on another show (or movie, or book, or play, anything), who are they, and what would you do with them?

And what epitomized AMC to you.

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Nice idea for a thread (and future threads, apparently). Here's my AMC answers- I tried to keep it to 1 or 2, and as few ties/runners up possible.

FAVORITES

Favorite Male Character- Strangely enough, I think I'd have to say Stuart. To me, he was the true heart of the show from the time I started watching and one of AMC's strengths and defining qualities was its heart. I think I'd probably name Tad in that respect also, though he still doesn't imbue the kind of sweetness Stuart did. For a contrast, I'd also throw Adam & Palmer in there- that and they were also very entertaining in that contrasting role. But those 3 would be Runners Up for sure, Stuart Chandler was definitely my fave.

Favorite Female Character- Brooke is just my kind of heroine. She's strong, smart, capable, and doesn't let anyone tell her what to do. It helped that Brooke's Tubal Pregnancy was the first storyline that really hooked me into 'AMC' and I thought Julia Barr was all kinds of terrific- I think she may have actually gotten an Emmy for her work in it and if she didn't, then she certainly deserved it. Obviously, I was a Liza fan too, Given, I never saw Marcy's 1st go round (well, at least while it was airing) but I loved the hell out of her from the day she returned to the show. I wasn't sure if I was gonna like her here, as I was used to her as heroine Eden, but she won me over pretty quickly. A couple other's I'd be remiss not to mention- Carrie Genzel's Skye, who I fell in LOVE with in the late 90s, Robin Mattson's Janet, probably the most interesting and complex "reformed villain" story I've ever seen, Eva LaRue's Maria (if only to see her go toe to toe with Erica), SMG's Kendall (same reasons as above) and Susan Lucci's Erica-

*more to come

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Great replies! All the soaps will probably be in this thread, as I wouldn't want to spam the thread with ten or however many threads, but we'll see.

I think Julia did win an Emmy for that story. I may choose Stuart too, I just loved him. I always wanted to enjoy Adam more than I actually did - he spent way too much time being browbeaten by everyone around him and it took away from story potential.

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MY AMC viewing was very limited. It was my #2 soap for awhile in the '90s.

Favorite/least favorite male character

Favorite: Edmund Grey

Least: Ryan Lavery

Favorite/least favorite female character

Favorite: Janet Green (Robin Mattson)

Least: Julia Santos

Favorite/least favorite couple

Favorite Couple: Edmund & Maria, Ryan & Gillian, Trevor & Janet

Least Favorite Couple: Tad & Dixie

Favorite story

Hayley/Alec/Arlene

Least favorite story

Janet/Pierce/Brooke

Worst recast

Alicia Minshew

And what epitomized AMC to you.

I loved the strong female lead characters (Janet, Brooke, Erica, Maria, Hayley, Liza etc...)

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To keep it fair, I'm gonna focus solely on my years of watching (2001-2011)...

Favorite/least favorite male character

Fave: Adam Chandler

Least fave: Zach Slater

Favorite/least favorite female character

Fave: Erica Kane

Least fave: Kendall Hart

Favorite/least favorite couple

Fave: Jesse/Angie

Least fave: Zach/Kendall

Favorite story

Cambias murder mystery

Least favorite story

Satin Slayer

Funniest scene

Erica, Brooke, Maria, Opal, Kendall, Bianca, and Myrtle have a free-for-all bitchfest at the Valley Inn

Favorite/best scene

Bianca reveals her feelings to Marissa

Favorite/least favorite scene.

"We need his heart."

Best recast

Christina Bennett Lind as Bianca

Worst recast

Brianne Moncrief as Colby Chandler

If there were one or two characters you wished you could put on another show (or movie, or book, or play, anything), who are they, and what would you do with them?

Babe and Krystal go back to their hometown and interact with family, friends, enemies, former lovers, etc.

And what epitomized AMC to you.

What I enjoyed the most about those last ten years were those periods when the show was just full of energy. It felt like there was a full slate of drama, comedy, and just plain excitement. 2003-2004ish, when everyone was involved in something, was just pure enjoyment for me, and that would be the epitome of why I fell in love with the show. I loved the dynamics of the families, the dynamics of each age group, the constant use of history, etc. It all just worked for me, and I wish the show had been like that for a much longer period.

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Favorite male character: Adam Chandler. Adam had it all. He could be evil, he could be funny. He was conniving and creative but vulnerable as well. I don't think there was ever a period of AMC in which I disliked Adam.

Least favorite - Ryan Lavery. He should have left town again after the Cambias trial. He was just so worthless after that. His backstory constantly changed, as did who he was - he was a con man, he was a billionaire, he was a businessman, he didn't want kids, he wanted kids, he had a vasectomy, oh no wait he didn't. Ugh.

Favorite female character: Erica Kane. Hands down. Erica was THE reason I fell in love with AMC and she was the reason I stayed a fan. I don't know that I can put into words how much I adore this character.

Least favorite - Maria Gray. She was snotty, self-righteous, whiny, and far too much of a goody two shoes to be remotely likeable to me. I resented her for stealing Edmund from Brooke and then turning around and sleeping with Dimitri. The final straw for me with Maria was when they thought the baby had died, and Dimitri suggested that perhaps it was for the best that the baby had died... and Maria didn't immediately punch him in the balls. Woman, you battled infertility for years, FINALLY got pregnant, had your baby delivered by your sister-in-law after she found out you slept with her husband, you think your beloved baby just died, and the father told you the child was better off dead - that is when you go psycho on him and beat the [!@#$%^&*] of him for saying something that insensitive. KWAK is a very close second for me.

Favorite couple: Erica and David. They had SO much mad chemistry. He was one of the only people in her life who could tell her, honestly, that he thought she was beautiful even when she was scarred. He saw past the perfect image that she tried to create and saw the real her, and he loved her for who she really was. He loved her, he wanted to marry her, she knew that he'd never leave her, and she panicked and pushed him away. That they were never reunited as a real couple is IMHO one of the huge tragedies of AMC's last decade or so.

Least favorite couple: Krystal and anyone really, but I especially hated Krystal and Adam because it was so ridiculous to me that Adam would be duped by someone like her.

Favorite story: Just one? Really? I loved the Cambias saga from 2003-2004 because practically all of the cast was brought into it and it fundamentally changed a lot of characters on the show. I LOVED Kendall's arrived in 1993 through Erica and Dimitri's second wedding. I loved seeing Erica tackle something really traumatic, and I felt like it explained a lot about who she was. I loved to hate Kendall, I loved Erica snapping and stabbing Dimitri. I loved the trial. I loved Erica later being torn between Jack and Dimitri. I just thought she was stupid for remarrying Dimitri after all of that.

Least favorite story: Erica's unaborted fetus. It was just massively insulting.

Funniest scene: Erica and Adam's food fight at the Plaza Hotel in 1991. Erica was SO furious with Adam for spoiling her romance with Jack, and she went absolutely ballistic on Adam, only to have him declare his undying love for her. It was just hilarious to watch, and it never gets old.

Favorite/best scene: Only one? God, I don't know that I can pick just one scene. I loved the above-mentioned fight between Erica and Adam. I loved Erica high on painkillers giving her Woman of the Year speech - God that was such a train wreck.

Least favorite scene: A lot of the crap involving Ryan and Griffin plotting to take down David toward the show's end. I'm still pissed that TIIC had David be stupid enough to fall for that. I also HATED Krystal trying to defend lying to Adam about her baby's paternity and acting like SHE was the victim.

Best recast: Jill Larson as Opal, Jacob Young as JR Chandler.

Worst recast: Jamie Lunar as Liza Colby

If there were one or two characters you wished you could put on another show (or movie, or book, or play, anything), who are they, and what would you do with them? I'd LOVE an Erica spinoff. I'd have happily watched her going off to Hollywood and making a movie and interacting with all of the wild and crazy Hollywood characters. I'd have watched a David spinoff too if he was written as a complicated shades of gray kind of guy and not the straight up evil villain he was in some of his later years on the show.

And what epitomized AMC to you: Erica Kane. I know there was more to the show than just her, but for me personally, she WAS AMC.

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For All My Children:

Favorite male character - Mark Dalton

Least favorite male character - Dr. Zack Slater

Favorite female character - Sybil Thorne, R. N.

Least favorite female character - Natalie Marlowe Hunter Courtlandt Chandler Dillon, R. N.

Favorite couple - Tara Martin and Phil Brent

Least favorite couple - Brooke English and Edmund

Favorite storyline - The death of Kate Martin

Least favorite storyline - 1. Erica gave birth to Zack Madden 2. Palmer Courtlandt is an art thief

Favorite scene - the revelation of Stuart's existance to Ellen Shepherd

Least favorite scene - Erica talks to a bear

Best recast - Lee Meriweather as Ruth Parker Martin

Worst recast - Hugo Napier as Mike Roy

What epitomized All My Children - 1. The Tara/Phil storyline 2. The anti-war speech spoken by Ruth Martin 3. The death of Kate Martin

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For ALL MY CHILDREN:

Favorite Character (Male): Alfred Vanderpoole

Least Favorite Character (Male): Caleb Cooney Cortlandt

Favorite Character (Female): Erica Kane

Least Favorite Character (Female): Simone Torres

Favorite Couple: Greg & Jenny

Least Favorite Couple: Any one of Bianca's numerous relationships (take your pick).

Favorite Storyline: The Tad/Liza/Marian triangle

Least Favorite Storyline: The Unabortion

Favorite Scene: Palmer and his dobermans trap Daisy in the barn.

Least Favorite Scene: Taylor falls down the stairs at the hospital (...with her coffee cups tumbling after her).

Best Recast: James Patrick Stuart as Will (Cooney) Cortlandt

Worst Recast: Amanda Baker as Arabella "Babe" Carey Chandler

What epitomized All My Children: The Glamorama. The Chateau. The Boutique. Myrtle Fargate's boarding house. The original "Martin family living room" and "Cortlandt Manor" sets. Whenever we were at any one of those places, I truly felt as if I was "home."

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I watched AMC since 2003.

Favorite Male Character - David Hayward

Least Favorite Male Character - Jonathan Lavery

Favorite Female Character - Kendall Hart Slater

Least Favorite Female Character - Marissa Chandler

Favorite Couple - JR and Babe

Least Favorite Couple - Ryan and Greenlee

Favorite Story - Annie Novak McDermott Lavery Chandler's. Just her whole journey on the show.

Least Favorite Story - Jackson/Erica/Samuel Woods

Funniest Scene - There are so many. I have to say the Marissa/Annie bitchfest scene from June 2010, where Annie called Marissa a "pink flannel wife" and "boring little mouse."

Best Scene - Kendall ripping into David at the courtroom over "killing" Zach.

Least Favorite Scene - I have never been more disgusted with AMC than I was when everyone in PV had a party for David Hayward's "death." That was just not needed. I was disappointed they even had Kendall saluting to his death when he's the reason she has a beating heart in her body, and he also saved her son's life in the past.

Best Recast - Jacob Young as JR.

Worst Recast - Amanda Baker as Babe.

I'd bring a freshly divorced Kendall Hart Slater to Los Angeles w/mid-teens Spike and Ian. She would open up a new Fusion office and mix things up with Forrester Creations. Her love interest would be Bill Spencer icon1.gif

The families and community feel of PV epitomized AMC for me.

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Ugh, I want to participate--and find this thread already great fun to read--but it's so hard for me to pick a favorite. I think I'm in the minority that when I watch a soap I never really think "oh good my fave couple is on!" or even about who I'd like to see paired up, but rather seem to only think about if it's good and I'm liking it, or if it's disappointing me.

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Favorite/least favorite male character Palmer Cortlandt/Ryan

Favorite/least favorite female character Daisy Cortlandt/Kendell

Favorite/least favorite couple Greg and Jenny/Zach and Kendell

Favorite story Ross rapes Natalie

Least favorite story Kendell's Coma

Funniest scene something with Opal 1.0 I am sure

Favorite/best scene Palmer reveals he has destroyed Adam

Favorite/least favorite scene. anything with Kendell or Greenlee

Best recast Robin Mattson

Worst recast That Minshew creature

What epitomized All My Children:

The Daughters of Fine Lineage meeting regularly off camera, Phoebe and Langley drinking their sherry, Enid Nelson

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The one she never shut up in. Coma stories used to be ways for the actors to get a vacation. Kendell went into a coma and I thought I was going to catch a break for week or so, and she never shut up. That story was I think the one that broke the camel's back for me, and I stopped watching. Kendell and Greenlee were easily the two worst things to ever happen to AMC, and they made me stop watching.

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I think I'll do that, or maybe just try to make the list off the top of my head and not worry that if I think about any answer more I'll change my mind. Funny, I don't have the same problem with Loving/City, OLTL, the other two soaps I'm the most connected with, so I guess that says something about how closely I hold AMC to my heart.

(BTW I would humbly submit the added category of either favorite/least favorite era and/or headwriter/producer, though I guess we've covered a lot of that before).

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