I forgot to thank everyone for the information about Alec Mapa and his Pasham character. I was watching then and have wiped that story from my memory. 

I like paulraven's idea as I never liked Mary and Vince. They had no real spark, and by the time they got together, their children were gone or almost all gone. I thought Mary and Reginald (if they were going to go that route) had more chemistry.  Maisie was such a fun character and I wish she had not been sacrificed for that serial killer storyline.

My other thought was to bring Reg back from the dead with Denise Alexander as his wife Marissa, who had no idea of his real identity and has to deal with this revelation. She would not be Mary.

Marissa would be torn b/c Reg lied to her. She could have a son by Reg or a son Reg brought up as his own. Mother and son move to Bay City. The son 'Scott' might get involved with Nancy.

 

3 hours ago, chrisml said:

  Maisie was such a fun character and I wish she had not been sacrificed for that serial killer storyline.

I certainly also hated, detested losing her to a stupid serial killer storyline. On that I totally agree.

15 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

So my question is, who would you have had Denise Alexander play in 86? She was 47 at the time.

Is there a past character she could have played? If not , who would you create that would have fitted into the canvas at the time and provided an outlet for her talents?

Maybe play Susan Matthews or Pammy Davis from Somerset?  
 

When Alexander arrived in 86, Aunt Liz was the only Matthews left in Bay City.  Susan did have a fling with Jamie, but her daughter Julia was dead by 86.

If she played Pammy Davis, they could have had her flirt with Mac instead of creating the Rose Livingston character they did at this time to flirt with Mac as Rachel still had feelings for Mitch.

19 minutes ago, watson71 said:

Maybe play Susan Matthews or Pammy Davis from Somerset?  
 

When Alexander arrived in 86, Aunt Liz was the only Matthews left in Bay City.  Susan did have a fling with Jamie, but her daughter Julia was dead by 86.

If she played Pammy Davis, they could have had her flirt with Mac instead of creating the Rose Livingston character they did at this time to flirt with Mac as Rachel still had feelings for Mitch.

I think Missy Matthews would have been a better choice for a return than Susan.  Susan had been played by four different actors over the years, and the character was never very interesting.  Missy, on the other hand, was a more dynamic character with an established background and lots of drama to explore with Liz and with Missy's son Ricky.  And I think Missy was a good fit for Alexander's acting style.  

Although I'd love for Pam Davis to return, I don't think Alexander was the right actor for that role.  I'd have cast Sharon Gabet as Pam.  

16 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

In my AW 'bible' Reg and Mary didn't happen. Two back from the deads and an amnesia  that really didn't have any long term effect didn't warrant inclusion for me.

I did think about Reg faking his death for whatever reason and coming back, but he wouldn't have been the moustache twirling villian we saw.

So my question is, who would you have had Denise Alexander play in 86? She was 47 at the time.

Is there a past character she could have played? If not , who would you create that would have fitted into the canvas at the time and provided an outlet for her talents?

If we are just playing the numbers, the proportion of established soap actors who've failed as re-casts is high.

So, while I understand the urge, I would still have cast her as a McKinnon, given that the McKinnon's were the prevailing salt-of-the-earth family at the time.  But, I would've cast her Donna's aunt, who married Vince's brother (to avoid any familial impact on Marley and Jake). She's a good woman, and long ago, Reginald would've preferred her over her sister.  Now, he seeks her out as a calming force for both Donna and Victoria.

Maisie was too blue collar/salt of the earth with limited storyline potential hence why she was killed off.  Quinn was a beautiful and confident black woman that was disposed of because this was a period where the writers seemed incapable of writing for a mature black woman.

Quite frankly, Quinn could have been tested with the other male characters that were on at the time like Michael, Mac, etc to see where she fit.

55 minutes ago, Mona Kane Croft said:

I'd have cast Sharon Gabet as Pam.  

That I like.

58 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

Maisie was too blue collar/salt of the earth with limited storyline potential hence why she was killed off.  Quinn was a beautiful and confident black woman that was disposed of because this was a period where the writers seemed incapable of writing for a mature black woman.

Quite frankly, Quinn could have been tested with the other male characters that were on at the time like Michael, Mac, etc to see where she fit.

They never would have paired her with a white man, but they could have tried her more with Zak or brought in a new man - maybe a new executive at Cory who could be tied into another developing story. Maybe he could have been tied to Reginald's dirty deeds and bringing him back to Bay City, sort of the evil mirror of Quinn helping bring Steve back to Bay City. In this story Reginald might have been less slimy and one-note and instead had more of a business rivalry with Mac, leading Quinn to be torn between friends and a new love, possibly even become a double agent for the Corys.

1 hour ago, Mona Kane Croft said:

I think Missy Matthews would have been a better choice for a return than Susan.  Susan had been played by four different actors over the years, and the character was never very interesting.  Missy, on the other hand, was a more dynamic character with an established background and lots of drama to explore with Liz and with Missy's son Ricky.  And I think Missy was a good fit for Alexander's acting style.  

Although I'd love for Pam Davis to return, I don't think Alexander was the right actor for that role.  I'd have cast Sharon Gabet as Pam.  

Great idea.

I wonder if Denise could have worked as Janet Matthews.

 

3 hours ago, DRW50 said:

They never would have paired her with a white man, but they could have tried her more with Zak or brought in a new man - maybe a new executive at Cory who could be tied into another developing story. Maybe he could have been tied to Reginald's dirty deeds and bringing him back to Bay City, sort of the evil mirror of Quinn helping bring Steve back to Bay City. In this story Reginald might have been less slimy and one-note and instead had more of a business rivalry with Mac, leading Quinn to be torn between friends and a new love, possibly even become a double agent for the Corys.

Great idea.

I wonder if Denise could have worked as Janet Matthews.

 

Although bringing back Janet would have been a great idea maybe 7 or 8 years earlier, it was perhaps too late in the game for Janet's return -- because literally, only Liz would even have remembered who she was. Plus, Denise was too young to play Janet, as Janet was a contemporary of Liz, Jim, and Mary. And I think Janet left before even Ada started on the show.   

On 3/29/2025 at 9:12 PM, Mona Kane Croft said:

Irene Dailey's Liz did mention Ricky and Missy several times during her first couple of years on AW. There was even a situation in which Mary Matthews flew to Arizona (or was it California?) to take care of Ricky, when Missy was ill.  Missy didn't want Liz to know she was ill, because she didn't want Liz to upset Ricky with her meddling, so she called Mary.  And the entire Matthews clan kept Mary's visit secret from Liz.  And then later, around 1978, when Susan Matthews returned -- there was so much conversation about Bill that fans began to believe he was going to somehow return to the show.   But after Harding Lemay left as head-writer, I don't recall Liz ever mentioning Missy or Ricky again, but perhaps she did. However the ignorance of later writers does not negate Liz's history with Bill, Missy, and Ricky.  

I do see your point about social media connections and video calls between family members in 2025.  So an imposter plot today would need to cover a lot of those bases to be believable.  But when I made my original comment, I was really thinking of this storyline occurring before AW was cancelled in 1999.  So most of those more modern details would not have been an issue with believability.   

Well, Ricky really wasn't Liz's grandson.  I was too young to remember the interaction between Liz & Ricky but then again she wasn't really a Matthews either but seemed to dig deep into her dead husband's nieces, nephews and offsprings lives.  The last time I heard Bill Matthew's name mentioned by Liz was in 1988.  Sam Fowler was in the hospital and Liz took Loretta Fowler (Sam's mom) out for lunch and she talked about the tragedies in her life and shared that her son Bill was killed in a boating accident (I am right that is how he died or a swimming pool accident?).  That was around Feb or March 1988 and the episode is floating out there on YT. 

I think next week Eddie Drueding is celebrating a big anniversary of the AWHP. 

On 3/25/2025 at 3:50 AM, Contessa Donatella said:

Isn't it particularly divine?

 

Yes, why not??!!!

That was so incredibly stupid.

I suspect almost no one would have recognized him as being Russ in 1999.  Russ at this time meant nothing on the show.  I dont know what purpose he would have provided to the ending episode coming on as Russ.  

31 minutes ago, denzo30 said:

Well, Ricky really wasn't Liz's grandson.  I was too young to remember the interaction between Liz & Ricky but then again she wasn't really a Matthews either but seemed to dig deep into her dead husband's nieces, nephews and offsprings lives.

Both Julia and Sally were adopted, so being a blood relation didn't have any bearing there. Liz also took a strong interest in the Corys, especially after the supply of Matthews-adjacent girls dried up. When Olivia came to town she was all over her and Russ.

I think there would have been some wiggle room for Liz to take an interest in Ricky.

21 hours ago, denzo30 said:

I suspect almost no one would have recognized him as being Russ in 1999.  Russ at this time meant nothing on the show.  I dont know what purpose he would have provided to the ending episode coming on as Russ.  

Josie was his daughter and Rachel was his ex-wife.

So connections right there that the show could have mined.