Another World

[chrisml]

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.

[Paul Raven]

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.

 

[Contessa Donatella]

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

[watson71]

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.

[Mona Kane Croft]

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.  

[j swift]

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.

[Soaplovers]

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.

[Paul Raven]

That I like.

[DRW50]

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.

 

[Mona Kane Croft]

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.