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What character was a favorite of yours until the actor playing the role ruined it for you?


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I did like Alex Donnelly and I'm not sure why they didn't bring her back. Unfortunately there is an uncomfortable history of mostly female characters being treated as expendable on Y&R. Especially if they commit the grave sin of actually aging. No one really likes to talk about this. Y&R has a history here, (indirectly, in an ironic twist, it was the first soap opera to openly show someone getting plastic surgery) which is why we now see characters that have had 'work' on their faces.

 

When I compared shows like Y&R and B&B to ATWT and GL, there was a marked difference in how women were seen and their characters treated as they aged.

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The biggest problem with Y&R writing off female characters was trashing established characters/relationships mainly to prop certain problematic characters/actresses (Giggly Heffa/Liz Hendrickson) & Nikki.

 

Alex Donnelly was the first victim of this. Followed by Susan Walters, Lauralee Bell, Jess Walton, Sharon Case, Clementine Ford, Maura West, Tricia Cast, even Amelia Heinle.

 

Eileen escaped this treatment for several years because she was in a popular relationship with Brad (which came with it's own complex set of issues) but all that changed when Jack Smith decided to destroy B/A to prop Victor/Nikki only for Victor to reject a borderline insane Ashley, leaving Ashley to mope around GC for a year & half doing nothing until Eileen was fired.

 

Tracey Bregman escaped the treatment because she was in a relationship the show didn't care about (beyond punishing The Abbotts) & because the show needed a convenient prop for St. Giggly.

 

 

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Y&R should done what ATWT did with AW Jake/Vicky, just moved Carly to Y&R. They already were in same universe as Michael appeared on ATWT and I believe Alison returned via Genoa City. Anyway, Carly's time in HK could've intersected with someone from Y&R and she was a designer, etc. The Diane recast was all wrong and it ended up as a terrible situation for an excellent actor and a legacy character. 

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The weird thing about Susan Walters was Y&R brought her back in 2010 right after Jack and Patty/Emily's wedding and brought Kyle along for a surprise visit and a brief run in with Phyllis. Walters was clearly available yet later that year we ended up with West in the role at it was a huge disaster and disrespect to the regal character that Alex Donnelley had made Diane to be.

 

Okay let me go out on a limb here and just blurt it out as I've been holding it in....Another favorite character of mine until an actress, who still kind of is a favorite of mine ruined it for me, and without being a recast: Hunter Tylo as Taylor on B&B. I blame mostly the writing but everything I saw of Taylor 2005-2014 just wasn't the Taylor I loved and rooted for 1990-2002. Yet Tylo easily fell into the camp in a very bad way and apparently dictated some stories herself(Phoebe's death). 

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THANK YOU!!! Even as a kid I always said Taylor should have stayed dead. I had stopped watching by the time they brought her back, but from what I have seen, as you said, that was not the same Taylor. It got to the point where I actually sided with Brooke, something I never thought I would utter before she and Taylor were shot. 

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I really thought the first Brad was good. John Loprieno, bless him, was one of the worst recasts I've ever seen in that role. Peck just felt like a brand new character. I have to admit the seedy affair with Terri Conn ruined any positive memory I may have had of him as Brad. 

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I totally agree, hell even Stephanie stopped kissing Taylor's butt for a good year and a half didn't she? I swear though it's not fair to say cause I wasn't watching those full years that it wasn't until Pheobes death Taylor and Stephanie got close again..

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What hype?  He's hot.  That's it.  Tall and hot.  

 

I can't believe I forgot about Steve Wilder as Jack.  What a mess.  But truthfully, I have a hard time reconciling the Laura Horton I've read about and the JLB version too.

 

One that I came around on?  Lauren Koslow's Kate on DAYS.  I loved Adair.  But I have grown to appreciate Koslow too.

Another excellent suggestion.  What a waste of a character that could have opened up storytelling on GH.

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