What?!? Ash Bash was FIRED?! Sons of bitches! I had no idea! Who fired her?! They FIRED Ash Bash to bring on Rachel Kimsey as Mac?! Seriously?!?!?

Yes, they fired her. They thought Kimsey was better suited to play a different Mac. Talk about respect for the original actress, huh?

Yes, they fired her. They thought Kimsey was better suited to play a different Mac. Talk about respect for the original actress, huh?

I HAD NO IDEA! I thought Ash Bash wanted to leave to go back to college! I know she is studying to be a doctor or something. Wow! I hate those people that did this, seriously.

I HAD NO IDEA! I thought Ash Bash wanted to leave to go back to college! I know she is studying to be a doctor or something. Wow! I hate those people that did this, seriously.

I think she went to college after her first stint on Y&R. Mac and Billy were replaced by that pretty, vacant girl and the guy who looked like Val Kilmer -- that's when they had the marriage and the Jill-kay mother/daughter reveal.

A year or two later, Ash Bash took some time off college, lured back to Y&R with the promise of an interesting new SL. She even had her hair cut to underscore the fact that mac was making new choices in her life. They even had her flirt with Daniel for a bit, before she realized that Daniel was still in high school. Then they fired AB to replace her with RK and went for some kind of JT/Mac/Kevin triangle. I'm not sure why they felt that AB couldn't hold her own with the intense Greg Rikaart (she can) or vapid hair model Thad Luckinbill.

Having nuBilly on the show makes me miss her. I would love to see if AB has chemistry with Billy Miller. And bear in mind, Billy would probably act VERY differently around Mac than he does around Amber, Colleen or his family. That trouble-making flirtatiousness would not be there so much. In fact, he would probably feel very exposed around Mac. He might even have trouble out-right lying to her. Mac was his first love, and it makes you wonder if those feelings have truly dissapated. Moreover, Mac knows the "real" Billy underneath the ultra-confident new armour he has constructed for himself.

I loved Kimsey as mac.

Yes, they fired her. They thought Kimsey was better suited to play a different Mac. Talk about respect for the original actress, huh?

And since Mac wound up being deflowered not too long after Kimsey took over, I always suspected that "different Mac" equaled "sexually active Mac" to TPTB. Although I could not for the life of me think of a reason why Ashley couldn't play the latter. I was kind of torn around that since I liked the idea that Mac wasn't eager to just give it up, but I also saw where it limited her storywise.

Diane just sort of disappeared and is said to be working in Chicago for Jabot. Susan Walters didn't get bumped to recurring, she actually left to star in a short lives paranormal prime time soap for FOX called Point Pleasant.

I thought I remember Walters being dropped to recurring at the same time as she got the POINT PLEASANT job, with the latter being the reason Diane never reappeared on a recurring basis.

Alex Donnelly was fired by Ed Scott. Scott wanted the character of Diane to go in a different (*cough* younger *cough*) direction, hence Susan Walters. Kay Alden was furious at having to write Donnelly off, thereby ruining the arc of the Sperm Switch Storyline (which I loved, so sue me).

And making the character younger made no sense since her history linked her to Jack back to the 80s. Maybe Scott was thinking that he had to make Diane more contemporary with then-rival Phyllis, but that was a bad move because it ignored all the character's history.

And since Mac wound up being deflowered not too long after Kimsey took over, I always suspected that "different Mac" equaled "sexually active Mac" to TPTB.

TPTB wanted to keep Thad frontburner but had issues with AshBash or Lyndsey so they dumped them, hired Rachel & nearly ruined the character.

I thought I remember Walters being dropped to recurring at the same time as she got the POINT PLEASANT job, with the latter being the reason Diane never reappeared on a recurring basis.

Sue was dropped during the summer & left in early fall.

And making the character younger made no sense since her history linked her to Jack back to the 80s.

Pretty much.

Maybe Scott was thinking that he had to make Diane more contemporary with then-rival Phyllis, but that was a bad move because it ignored all the character's history.

She was the third legacy character sacrificed at the expense of Saint Giggly Heffa.

Edited September 29, 200817 yr by DeeeDee

I loved Kimsey as mac.

I loved her too! She was way better than AshBash. AshBash made Mac dull and depressing (much like what Leon did to Colleen).

I also liked Susan Walters better than Alex Donnelley.

She was the third legacy character sacrificed at the expense of Saint Giggly Heffa.

Who were the other two?

I'll forever have a soft spot for Bashioum but that's only because the s/l was fan-friggin'-tastic. Much as it was when Khalil first came on and had fantastic scenes with Graziadei. But I have a feeling if she were given anything that the teen set are given now, Bashioum wouldn't deliver. She had the integrity of the character, no doubt, but her skills were limited IMO. All of the recasts seemed to lack the soul that Bashioum brought to Mac.

Kimsey had more of a range but it was so hard to sympathize and relate because her chemistry with just about everyone on the show left much to be desired. She wasn't as whiny as her predecessor but she still had this basketcase/"pity-me" thing going that was a real let-down to what could've been a great character.

Susan Walters's unfortunate departure probably was a forecast to how all the women on Y&R really began to lose their grit. (Except for Nikki) I don't want to see a Diane pine after Jack like Amber or scheme like a half-wit like Gloria.

Kimsey over AshBash?

LMAO.

Edited September 30, 200817 yr by DeeeDee

Kimsey over AshBash?

LMAO.

Yeah, and Walters over Donnelly? Hmmm. Different strokes for different folks.

Pretty much.

Jack, only post when you have a rebuttal. That was unnecessary and not a rebuttal.