2 hours ago, Xanthe said:

Alice dated Mark Singleton briefly but those stakes were pretty low. Is there any character from Alice's past who should have been brought back onto the canvas in 1984 in order to make the best use of Alice?

To keep Alice out of isolation and just as a sounding board for Sally, TPTB should have tied her to a relationship with Carl Hutchins once he and Felicia called it quits. This would have put her in direct conflict with the Corys and Aunt Liz would have objected to the pairing.

Also, the show could have brought on a romantic pairing she had offscreen while she was in medical school or done a hospital storyline where she was front and center. She could have been Mac’s doctor upon her return to Bay City, and she overlooked medical information causing further complications from the stroke he had in March 1984.

Ross, Carl Hutchins’ hitman, could have tried to kill Alice as well if she learned too much about David Thatcher’s murder. In the summer of 1984, Ross tried to kill Aunt Liz by loosening the stairs to the Matthews’ basement and having her fall down the stairs and he killed Matthews’ cousin Julia. Ross never attempted to kill Alice.

14 hours ago, Xanthe said:

Alice dated Mark Singleton briefly but those stakes were pretty low. Is there any character from Alice's past who should have been brought back onto the canvas in 1984 in order to make the best use of Alice?

Robin Thomas may have been a decent-enough actor, but Mark Singleton had a "non-essential, extraneous supporting player" vibe about him. He never should have been considered as a romantic partner for a legendary leading lady like Alice.

JC had had obvious chemistry with actor Tom Fuccello, when they appeared together on OLTL. He was charming, affable and sexy, and really clicked with Courtney on screen. If AW insisted on keeping Alice and Mark Singleton as a couple, they should cast Fuccello in that role.

If AW wanted to resurrect Steve Frame, they should have had Jacquie Courtney on board first. A dynamic David Canary might have shown some sparks with JC, but Linda Borgenson was dull as dishwater, and the entire back-from-the-dead saga for Steve was an unmitigated flop.

Since Steve was not a possibility, AW could have had Alice reenter Mac's orbit in some capacity, if only to get under Rachel's skin.

Probably the only other option available to them would have been to hire a magnetic leading man for her, and hope for the best.

7 hours ago, vetsoapfan said:

Robin Thomas may have been a decent-enough actor, but Mark Singleton had a "non-essential, extraneous supporting player" vibe about him. He never should have been considered as a romantic partner for a legendary leading lady like Alice.

JC had had obvious chemistry with actor Tom Fuccello, when they appeared together on OLTL. He was charming, affable and sexy, and really clicked with Courtney on screen. If AW insisted on keeping Alice and Mark Singleton as a couple, they should cast Fuccello in that role.

If AW wanted to resurrect Steve Frame, they should have had Jacquie Courtney on board first. A dynamic David Canary might have shown some sparks with JC, but Linda Borgenson was dull as dishwater, and the entire back-from-the-dead saga for Steve was an unmitigated flop.

Since Steve was not a possibility, AW could have had Alice reenter Mac's orbit in some capacity, if only to get under Rachel's skin.

Probably the only other option available to them would have been to hire a magnetic leading man for her, and hope for the best.

I believe TPTB should most certainly have cast a dynamic new leading man for Alice when she returned in 1984. Definitely not a carbon copy of Steve Frame, but a successful professional -- perhaps a well known doctor or surgeon, a retired pro-athlete, a very successful attorney, or maybe a hot-shot journalist or businessman with ties to Mac Cory. And this character should have been cast with an uber-popular daytime actor probably stolen from another soap opera. Let's face it -- Ms Courtney could play lots of things, but her version of Alice seemed to shine best in romantic situations. Without putting Alice almost immediately into a big new romance, TPTB more-or-less doomed Ms Courtney's 1984 return.

Edited 20 hours ago20 hr by Tisy-Lish

6 minutes ago, Tisy-Lish said:

I believe TPTB should most certainly have cast a dynamic new leading man for Alice when she returned in 1984. Definitely not a carbon copy of Steve Frame, but a successful professional -- perhaps a well known doctor or surgeon, a retired pro-athlete, a very successful attorney, or maybe a hot-shot journalist or businessman with ties to Mac Cory. And this character should have been cast with an uber-popular daytime actor probably stolen from another soap opera. Let's face it -- Ms Courtney could play lots of things, but her version of Alice seemed to shine best in romantic situations. Without putting Alice almost immediately into a big new romance, TPTB more-or-less doomed Ms Courtney's 1984 return.

Perfectly said.👍

Had TPTB not killed him off shortly after Courtney’s return on May 4th, she probably would have had good chemistry with Michael Minor’s Dr. Royal Dunning. Alice could have gotten close to him to expose the baby selling ring in Bay City and further explain how the Thatchers got Sally’s baby, Kevin.

On 6/29/2026 at 9:16 AM, vetsoapfan said:

Yep, Tomlin acknowledged in the press that the botching of JC's comeback rested mainly on his shoulders because he had not researched the character enough to understand her history or her significant ties to other characters.

Being so incompetence was bad enough in itself, but coming out and admitting it was jaw-droppingly STOOPID.

Even Vana Tribbey, when she assumed the role of Alice in 1981, said she had studied a "very long, very complicated 17-year history" of the character, to get her thoroughly familiar with the role.

Tomlin's carelessness and incompetence really damaged the show.

But that doesn't make sense right? I mean, the whole purpose of bringing back JC was it was the show's 20th anniversary and they were hoping to bring back viewers since JC was an admired actress from the show's past. Considering the publicity of her being fired in 1975 and the outrage from viewers her character was a legacy. You would have to be a complete idiot of a writer if you did not understand why the show was bringing her back into the fold. I kind of think the network & EP were only interested in the publicity they were hoping for bringing her back and they had no real interest in a storyline. Tomlin probably knew that and she was just pushed to the side as a familiar face from the past. AW really botched so much that you have to shake your head and wonder where the hell were these peoples heads who were in charge. I suppose the publicity of bringing back JC flopped from the beginning and they figured don't waste any time giving the character a real storyline as she was written out not even a year later. What a disappointment.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by denzo30