Couples that survived/were destroyed by recasts

[carolineg]

The first couple that popped into my head was Sonny and Carly. I hate Sonny and Carly in general, but I thought TB had good chemistry with MB. Probably the best romantic chemistry out of all four Carlys.TB has/had a softness that no other Carly possessed. They were still a viable couple until the Bullet of Love and the Lorenzo nonsense. With LW, Carson were DOA.

Nik and Gia were still good for me with Coltin Scott (or whatever the hell his name is). I think I might like him and MR better than TC and MR. The random Gia recast killed them though. I will never get what they were thinking with that girl (no idea what her name is). She was so wrong for the part. It was like they just cast the first black girl they saw (even though MR isn't African American at all, Gia was)

I thought Zander and Emily lost a lot of their sparkle with NL, but they had as much chemistry as Nik and Emily, so it's odd they were thrown under the bus so quickly. GH was always so set on Nem as a fairytale romance (except when they pushed that Soily mess) and they never held my attention. They were so zzzzzzzworthy. I guess it was better with NL in the role because Soily and Nem would have been even worse (if you can imagine) with AT still playing Emily.

JY killed LL2 for me, probably forever. GV and even JJ couldn't ever recapture the original magic.

I thought Carrie and Austin remained a good couple when AP took over. AP has a lot of faults, but he had good chemistry with CC. I honestly missed AP as Austin this time around. PM lost a lot of his charm and looked so old.

I thought MM and BB did a good job with Shawn and Belle, not as appealing as KS and JC, but definitely adequate. I also thought the Real World guy who played Phillip (Kyle Brandt?) and JkJ had really good chemistry with MM. GH should pick up Martha Madison to play Lulu, honestly. She does seem a lot older than JMB, though.

Bo and Billie were painful without RKK and LR. I am one of the few who actually liked Krista Allen, but she had no chemistry with PR at all. Julie Pinson was decent though, but Bo/Billie/notdeadbabyGeorgia-Chelsea was such a clusterfuck I can't imagine anyone rooting for Bo/Billie at that point. PR and LR don't have a ton of chemistry either. RKK really sparkled with LR. Much more than he did with Kristian Alfonso. Recasts of Billie/Bo really change the whole dynamic of the Bo/Hope/Billie triangle and made the only real option Bo and Hope. I think of what could have been if RKK and LR had stayed on.

Jack and Jen were hit hard with recasts. I thought Mark Valley was an adequate recast, but Stephanie Cameron and blonde Ken doll Jack Steve Wilder were some of the worst recasts of the 90's.

[JellicleCat]

Holden and Lily (ATWT) were never the same after Martha Byrne left and was replaced by Noelle Beck. Martha and Jon Hensley had amazing chemistry. Jon and Noelle - not so much.

Maybe not quite the subject of the thread, but a couple that never would have worked without the recast was Brooke and Thorne on B&B. KKL and Jeff Trachta's Thorne worked fine as good friends, but I don't think I would have bought them as a couple. KKL with Winsor Harmon's Thorne on the other hand.... HOT!

[ChitHappens]

^^^ Holden and Heather Rattray's Lily were pretty darn good together.

[applcin]

Survived:

GL - Danny & Michelle (love em or hate em, the show kept them chugging along from Joie Lenz to Nancy St. Alban)

OLTL - Max & Gabrielle - I actually thought Nicholas Walker's chemistry with Fiona was better than JDP's
RH: Jillian & Frank - a case where the recast (Frank) actually made the chemistry better
GL - Phillip & Beth
OLTL - Cord & Tina ( the chemistry with K. Witter wasn't as hot as with A. Evans but they were still believable)

Destroyed:
RH - Joe & Siobhan - the originals were cute together. But then the show not only recast both but changed their personalities. Like Frank and Jill, the show kept the "star-crossed" thing going on for years during multiple recasts but the chemistry (or lack of) was always a crapshoot.
AW - Gary & Josie - Tim Gibbs and Amy Carlson had some spitfire to them. John Littlefield and Nadine S were bland...and then they got married in real life.

GL - Nick & Mindy
EON - Jodi & Preacher

[SFK]

Dorian (Princi to Strasser) and Jason survived, for what their relationship was worth.

And while never romantically paired again, Fillion was the only Joey believably matched with Strasser.

[P.J.]

Ugh---St. Alban---GL's version of the cockroach. Indestructible.

GL's Phillip and Beth were never the same with Beth Chamberlain in the role. She was tolerable until the minute she started talking.

[y&r_fan]

Ugh. Adrianne and Thad didn't work at all. She was much more suited to Eyal Podell. Even Tammin had more chemistry with Thad.

But of course JT/Colleen was best with Lyndsy Fonseca in the role.

[DRW50]

RH

Jack/Mary - To be honest, I was not a fan of this relationship with any actors, but Kate Mulgrew and Michael Levin had a genuine spark together that was there from laughter to tears. There was none of this with the other three Marys. The third Mary, Kathleen Tolan, had some of the worst anti-chemistry with Levin that I have ever seen on a soap opera.

Delia/Roger - I wasn't a big fan of this relationship either, but Ilene Kristen and Ron Hale just had far more of a fun and deep bond together than Ron had with Randall Edwards. Randall was much better with other men.

GL

Alex/Roger - nothing against Marj Dusay, who is one hell of a charismatic actress, but Beverlee McKinsey and Michael Zaslow had this wonderful, rare connection, in spite of personal animus. Alex was pure ice and Roger always got to her. I never felt that with Dusay's Alex. She often behaved like a sprung chicken.

GL - Nick/Mindy

Say what you will about the pairing (again, not a fan!), but Kimberley Simms and Vincent Irizarry had some genuine chemistry. There was absolutely nothing with Barbara Crampton. Every scene laid down and died.

[VirginiaHamilton]

Tim Gibbs was actually good in a role?

[SoapDope]

Y&R....A lot of fans never warmed up to David Hasselhoff replacing William Gray Espy and it ruined Chris and Snapper for them. Later Trish Stewart left the role of Chris and Lynne topping replaced her.

GL......A lot of fans didn't like the recast of Morgan from Kristen Vigard to Jennifer Cook.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Tammin had great chemistry with thankful lack of airtime (until the character's death) she was given too.

[Soaplovers]

Philip/Beth on GL: The original portrayers had oodles of chemistry. While I liked Beth Chamberlain's take on the character, the chemistry between her and Philip just wasn't there. I remember thinking when she returned in 1997 that she had more chemistry with Ben warren and was disappointed that the show just kept them as friends with the occasional benefit.

Lily/Holden on ATWT: This is a couple that should have stayed together only with Martha Byrne playing the character (though she did have decent chemistry with Damian). I thought that Noelle Beck's Lily had way more chemistry with Craig (Jon Lindstrom's Craig) then she ever did with Holden.. imho.

Greenlee/Aidan on AMC: While Sabine S was not a total success as Greenlee, the show noted her lack of chemistry with Ryan and had spun her off into a new coupling with Aidan since they had chemistry. When Rebecca Budig came back, the characters' lacked chemistry and the show wisely broke them up... however, they put her back with Ryan even though they didnt have chemistry either.

[Darn]

There's one couple that didn't have one single ounce of chemistry over the near decade AMC tried to shove them down our throats.

[Chris B]

Ryan's Hope is perfect for this thread since just about every major character was recast at some point. Thankfully, they usually did a good job so things like couples weren't horribly affected.

Jack/Mary - I thought the first Mary recast was GREAT, but other actresses simply highlighted the age different, which is why the couple didn't work. Kate Mulgrew had a quality that made her seem so much older than she actually was.

Delia/Roger - I LOVED both versions of this couple. Randall Edwards had her own take on the character, but I found her just as impressive as Ilene Kristen. Originally I always hated Kristen's Delia, it wasn't until I became a Randall Edwards fan that I decided to give Kristen a chance. Ron Hale just killed it with both actresses though.

Siobhan/Joe - This is heartbreaking, but the recasts just murdered this couple. I know many have spoke highly of Marg Helgenberger as Siobhan, but Sarah Felder was perfection and once she was gone, SIobhan was never the same. I did enjoy Roscoe Born as Joe, but I wish I could've seen him with Felder. I know it's unpopular, but I did enjoy Ann Gillespe as Siobhan. I would've been happier with her staying than Helgenberger coming on.

Jill/Frank - I don't recall how I felt about Jill with the first Frank (he didn't make much of an impression AT ALL), but I loved her with Andrew Robinson and also Daniel Hugh Kelly. I know the other two Frank's were considered successful, so I'm curious how they affected the Jill/Frank dynamic.

[DRW50]

The other Franks are on Youtube if you want to see them.

I get the impression the show sort of drifted away from Frank/Jill at that time, at least for a while.

I loved Randall Edwards, but preferred her with guys like Barry.