ATWT

Hillary B. Smith to Ellen Dolan (Margo)

I think Hillary had her moments, but a lot of the time she could come off as a chicken with her head cut off. Incredibly chatty and representative of Margo's impulsive nature a little TOO well. I can't imagine her playing Margo's rape or disconnecting Casey.

Melanie Smith to Kelly Menighan Hensley (Emily)

I just found Melanie Smith to be average, and far too pouty. Kelly brought a wealth of vulnerability to the part, and that's rare for someone so beautiful. Then again, all that put together helps justify Emily's relationships with men.

Kim Onasch to Jennifer Ferrin (Jennifer)

It's not really hard to see why! Kim's version was totally annoying, mostly because of the false emotion. Even with bland writing, Jennifer Ferrin was believable.

I couldnt disagree more. I acutally prefered Hillary over Ellen. Melanie prefered her over Kelly. Kim was fun as Jennifer....Jennifer Ferrin made Jenn dull and boring.

Edited July 31, 200718 yr by Soapsuds

^Kim Onasch? We're describing the same one, right? She could. Not. Act.

^Kim Onasch? We're describing the same one, right? She could. Not. Act.

I said Kim was fun as Jennifer. I never said anything about her acting.

Well, I'm glad that was cleared up! I truly think Jennifer Ferrin was a victim of lame writing too. The bright idea to create Jordan Sinclair just to keep her character around was useless, and it was downhill from there.

AMC

Cady McClain as Dixie. She took over from that blond Hee-Haw chick and it was a definite improvement. Same with the Will recast.

Alicia Minshew as Kendall. I hated, hated, hated her when she first started. Thought she was awful. Remember the smoking at the Pine Cone and starting the fire Ryass had to put out? Man my eyes nearly rolled out of my head. I had a hard time accepting her because I loved SMG's Kendall. However she won me over when Kinks kicked in and now I think she is great and has made Kendall her own.

Y&R

Peter Bergman as Jack Abbott. I love his version of Jack. I cheer him on no matter what he does which is something I never did for Terry Lesters. Bergman made Jack very different from Terry's version but I perfer it. I know alot of people did'nt like the recast though.

OLTL

Dan Gautier as Kevin Buchanan - In my opinion, the best Kevin Buchanan. It's a shame that the great Victoria Lord's sons have never had it easy in the performer department, but Dan Gautier was absolutely phenomenal in his complex, often tortured portrayal of Kevin. Falling in and out of love with Kelly, losing the son he didn't raise correctly, and ultimately making peace with his mistakes, Gautier will always be Kevin in my eyes.

Agree 100%.

Going back decades to AW, I've heard Victoria Wyndham was an immense improvement over the actress who played Rachel right after Robin Strasser left. This doesn't surprise me at all but I wonder if Wyndham would have bee as well-received if she'd immediately followed Strasser.

Let me try to do this....

GH

Tamara Braun as Carly Corinthos - I thought the recast of Carly would NEVER work, but you know what it did. Tamara brought a vulnerability to Carly that didn't quite show through as much as it could have with Sarah Brown. That is no fault of Sarah, but it's due to the writing. Eventually Tamara's Carly became a bit too weak, but it was nice to see her show vulnerability and turn that role into her own. I know many people hated Tams, but she will always be Carly to me.

Jennifer Bransford as Carly Corinthos - Now I know that JB was pretty much hated by everyone (including me) but she did bring some positive influences to Carly. JB's Carly was the transition from meek, vulnerable, doormat Carly, to a more secure, yet mentally unbalanced Carly. She was a transition recast that started horribly and ended on a good note IMO.

Laura Wright as Carly Corinthos - Laura Wright is probably one of my favorite Carly's. She captures something from all the former girls who played Carly. Yes she had a tendency to yell a bit too much (which I really think is something they tell her to do, she didn't do it on GL) but overall she's wonderful. To me, the actress who plays Carly MUST have chemistry with Steve Burton (or else the Carly/Jason dynamic would never work) and Maurice Bernard (because say what you will, Sonny & Carly are a destiny couple).

Billy Warlock & Sean Kannan as AJ Quartermaine - Simply put, they were the best. The other adult AJ really sucked.

Chad Brannon as Zander Smith - Thank god they recast the role. Not many people remember the first Zander...but he was nothing like Chad.

Greg Vaughan as Lucky Spencer - After spending years having to look at podLucky, Greg was a welcoming recast.

John Ingle as Edward Quartermaine - No reason....he is just Edward to me.

Also....anyone who will play Emily after Natalia Livingston. Just the fact that she wouldn't be her would be a positive influence.

Kam Heskin as Caitlin Richards over Vanessa Dorman.

Kam was a lot better for the more bitchy Caitlin, she seemed older also. !!!!!!!!???????????????...................

JESS WALTON as Jill Abbott: Some may really disagree with me as Brenda Dickson was the original Jill but I really feel that Walton gave the character so much dimension. She gave Jill a sense of humor and a touch of humanity which Dickson's haughty demeanor never quite managed. Walton has always played Jill as a real person, not a caricature. Walton's Jill is sensual, fiery, determined, angry and experienced. To me Walton's Jill is how Bill Bell truly envisioned the character and perhaps it could be argued that Walton has the Emmys to prove it.

Well put.

Jess Walton was the first recast on my mind as well.

AMC

Alicia Minshew as Kendall Hart

Eden Riegel as Bianca Montgomery

Robin Mattson as Janet Green

Leven Rambin as Lily Montgomery

Cady McClain as Dixie Cooney

Jill Larson as Opal Cortlandt

Ambyr Childers as Colby Chandler

Colin Egglesfield as Josh Madden

Michael E. Knight as Tad Martin

Jacob Young as JR Chandler

Michael Sabatino as Dr. Jonathan Kinder

DAYS

Heather Lindell as Jan. HO's Jan was simply a whiny, irritating bitch. With HL, Jan was completely batshit but with a lot of vulnerabilities. I totally understood how she could develop an unhealthy fixation on Shawn since he was the only person who was nice to her post-rape-and-parents'-death.

Brandon Beemer as Shawn Douglas Brady on DAYS

Then again, anything was better than Jason Cook!

Kam Heskin as Caitlin Richards over Vanessa Dorman.

Kam was a lot better for the more bitchy Caitlin, she seemed older also. !!!!!!!!???????????????...................

I remember that was one of my first experiences with recast. I said "She's pretty" after the announcer announced Kam's name. She OWNED Catlin but I remember Vanessa's exit when she slapped Annie.

Gina Tognoni as Dinah. Not that Wendy Moinz was bad, but it's fortunate that GL was able to find another actress that would take the role in a wonderful new direction.

From Marj Dusay to Joan Collins. I ahev to agree with everyone who said this was a positive recast. Collins gave Alex her spine back after the last few years that Dusay was in it, Alex had lost her spine. It was a conbination of good casting and good writing for Alex. I sooooo bet that if Collins stayed in the role for a few more months, Alex would have never been Reva's stalker or some evil drug lord.

Stephanie Gatschet as Tammy Winslow. Another great casting choice for the show. SG is such a talented actress.

Karen Witter as Tina Clayton Lord on OLTL. Here's my write up on her version of the character from my site:

By 1990, the role of Tina Lord had been played by three different actresses, however, the image of the character easily belonged to that of its creator and longest running portrayer, Andrea Evans—who had spent a combined total of eight years in the role. During her time onboard, Tina had always been front and center, so for any actress to come in after her and attempt to take over where she left off was in for a challenge. The fact that Andrea was now considered a daytime diva, with her Tina being one of the shows most decipherable characters, could not have made it any easier.

Fortunately, the casting people did not try to fool the audience by casting someone who visually looked like a ‘hack Tina’ and attempt to have them mimic Evans. They, instead, brought in Karen Witter—whom they allowed to play the role in a way that best suited her, and went on to personify another side to Tina’s personality. Traces of a mellowed out Tina had always lurked, but never stuck. As Evans often played her, Tina could never stay benevolent for a significant period of time. Witter, though, managed to, in a way, rehabilitate the character; making her more responsible, affectionate, devoted, and hopeful—while at the same time less flighty and superficial.

Witter’s Tina was endearing, not irritating. She was also loving towards Viki, not mercenary so much as persuadable by a plausible con. Her mothering was sweeter…her friendships more believable…her tone never strident…her tears more heart-tugging…her love more freely given…her dislike less spiteful. Witter’s Tina was basically a sweat-heart, who was easy to root for and settle in with. Like her predecessors, she too would sometimes get into trouble and make imprudent decisions, but more thought and caution were put into her actions before hand. Karen Witter definitely added something positive to the role of Tina Lord, which in turn worked in the characters favor and did not seem out of sync or inappropriate. It was a welcome change. In the end, Karen Witter’s Tina was a good argument against pretending to kill off popular characters (or writing them into indefinate coma’s) for the sake of leaving a door open for an actor to return.