All: Which Character's Departure Was Most Disrespectful?

[Max]

Due to budget cuts and the many other problems soaps have faced in recent years, many beloved characters have been abruptly let go. The purpose of this thread is to ask you which of these departures you find most disrespectful.

IMO, the most disgraceful departure was that of ATWT's Dr. John Dixon. Dixon, of course, had been part of ATWT's canvas for 35 years and was one of the most important characters in the history of ATWT. (His portrayer, Larry Bryggman, even won two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor.) Yet, instead of going out in grand fashion, this character made an appearance (in an ordinary scene) and was never heard from or seen again. (Although, I guess what I just wrote is not 100% true, since he was briefly mentioned on ATWT's 50th Anniversary Special.)

Had the departure of DOOL's Alice Horton been permanent, however, then that would have replaced John Dixon's exit as the most disrespectful in soap history. Back during JERk's serial killer storyline of 2004, Marlena "killed" Alice by stuffing donughts down her throat. Although JERk and Corday (in an action that was extremely insulting to the audience) led the audience to believe that Alice was killed off for good, it was later revealed that she was still alive (thus making this not a "real" departure).

[dm.]

Letting Julia Barr depart from AMC was insulting.

And don't let me get started on Cady McClain's departure from AMC last year.

[Cheap21]

Laura Koffman's exit as Cassie on OLTL. She got pregnant and while on maternity leave, JFP told her to not come back. Bitch

[Ryan]

ATWT - John Dixon, Craig Montgomery (involves Scott Bryce, not so much the character)

AMC - Brooke English, Edmund Grey, Dixie Martin

OLTL: Cassie Carpenter, Larry Wolek (WTF is he anyway?!!), Hugh Hughes (again, involves the actor, Joshua Casaubon)

GH: All veterans fired and given no proper exit

[dragonflies]

Julia Barr's Brooke

Scott Bryce's Craig(more the actor than the character)

[DaytimeFan]

Julia Barr, AMC

Jackie Zeman, GH (I know she's on recurring, but we all know what that means on ABC)

Rachel Ames, GH

Stuart Damon, GH (I know he's on recurring, but he never should have been sidelined by ABC)

Funny, all over 50, all at ABC. Hmm.

[AddictedToSoaps]

Julia Barr and Cady McClain.

[CassieFan]

Julia Barr, Cady McClaine and as it seems Leven Rambin as Lilly. Will she ever be back???!!!

DAYS - Judi Evans as Adrienne

P.S. Not a big Lavery Bunch fan, but Jonathan deserved a proper send-off...

[dragonflies]

Far be it for me to defend ABC this one isn't their fault, Leven hasn't decided if she's going to re-sign or not, so it's ALL on her IMO.

[bbcanuck]

Cady McClain's dismissal from AMC in 07 was the most loathsome act ever perpetrated upon a long-suffering and loyal fan base. The results of that assine decision are obvious - the once mighty AMC that featured the likes of Tad and Dixie, Brooke, Edmund and Erica is now Cellar Dweller Central with Zach, Kendall, Ryan and Greenlee.

Adding insult to injury, JH Carruthers appears to be tossing a bone to TnD fans, luring them back with the most heartfelt and compelling story to be seen on AMC in ages, only to slam us full in the face AGAIN! If Dixie fades into the light, AMC will suffer the consequences; its fate left to the fickle fans of fusion femmes. Yeesh!

[TC]

Many good choices so far. Another one that sticks out in my mind is Fiona Hutchinson as Gabby from OLTL, found dead next to a toilet. And then there's Alice Barrett as Frankie from AW, murdered in one of the most violent, horrific scenes ever to be played out on a soap. Her cries for mercy were gutwrenching.

Maureen Bauer's death on GL wasn't so much disrespectful as extraordinarily ill-advised. It was the beginning of the end for that show, for me at least. GL has outdone themselves since then, it seems. Michael Zaslow as Roger Thorpe comes to mind as well.

As for Larry Bryggman, I expected him to get some flack for his negative remarks about soaps - but fired? One bad day in 35 years, a few unfortunate words that took less than 30 seconds to say ... and it's over.

[MTSRocks]

Y&R's John Abbott.

[worddiva]

I agree with you about the departure of John Dixon, he just walked out of the bar/resturant never to be heard from again. Of course the reason it was done this way, is that if the character was given a 'proper' send off, I think they would have had a harder time getting rid of him. Back in fall 1983 John Dixon was 'killed off' while Larry Bryggman was in negotiations with management, there was a wonderful plotline of murder attempts and people who would want him dead, etc. Luckily they came to their senses and John Dixon made a splashy return in the courtroom in the middle of Dee's denial that she was the one who murdered him.

And while the show has lost it's interest for me, I can't for the life of me understand why John would not even be mentioned during various crisis with Margo, Lucinda (she and John had some wonderful scenes together), even with Barbara.

Wells that's my two cents. I still hope beyond hope that John Dixon will reappear someday, and start stirring things up again.

Nancy

[stix]

For me, it's a tossup between Julia Barr and Cady McLain on AMC. Julia's was awful because of the complete disrespect she was shown - she didn't even get a goodbye after nearly 25 years. And Cady was lured back, only to be let go in one of the most idiotic storylines ever.

[Angela]

I'm going with Julia by a pinch, Brooke just went away and it was as if she never even existed. Nothing. Nothing.