I don't know this for sure, but I think Irna killed off Joe Roberts to open up storyline possibilities for Meta. Meta was very much a central figure in the 50s, when Joe died, but she was kind of without story (as most happily married soap characters) are. And she was still young enough to be in a strong romantic storyline. After she married Joe, she was always present but just spent most of her time fretting over Kathy. When Joe died, Meta quickly went into a new romance with Mark Holden which led to a Meta/Mark/Kathy triangle and lots of juicy storyline. There were several different actors who played Bruce as the character was in and out of the story for 24 years. William Roerick (Henry Chamberlain) and a famous actor (Barnard Hughes) both played the part if you can use your imagine picturing them with Ellen Demming to ascertain if they would have had chemistry together. Although, with Bruce, chemistry was less of an issue with Meta. He was always waiting in the wings for Meta while she went off with other men. By the time she decided to marry Bruce, it was mainly because she was lonely after so many failed romances. It sounds disrespectful but Bruce understood this and was ok with it. She basically married him like she was putting on a comfortable pair of slippers to enter old age with. It was actually a good lesson on passion vs. companionship and which is more important. It was pretty clear in the story that companionship was the most important. She had that with Joe but, of course, he died. Every other relationship Meta had was based on passion or emotion with usually disastrous consequences. By the time Meta married Bruce she was moving out of that lead heroine role it made sense for her to settle down with Bruce. Although it was really the beginning of the end for the character. She would remain on the show for another 14 years but she was never front and center again. Anyway, Bruce was really the best thing that ever happened to Meta. Even better than Joe. Joe was good for Meta but he brought the baggage of hurricane Kathy with him.
I couldn't stand Dick. Nor could I stand Kathy. So I thought they were made for each other. You are correct that Paul was a much more interesting character. Dick was selfish, self-righteous and such a wimp. A lot of people found it hard to like Paul at first. In fact, Bert Bauer couldn't stand him. When anybody ever mentioned Paul, she'd always say, "Oh, that sour apple!". But Paul had his reasons for being cynical and stand-offish. Dick was a tool just because he was a tool. For some reason, most people liked Dick. Although I found Paul much more likable.
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Reverend Ruthledge ·
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