I'm pretty sure that getting paid for playing two characters is standard practice.

 

17 hours ago, DRW50 said:

That makes sense. 

I preferred Floyd under the Dobsons to Marland. He was goofy, stupid, annoying - we've all known someone like Floyd, and I couldn't dislike him. I didn't dislike him under Marland either, but he was very dull, clearly just there for the plots of other characters (a custody battle to upset Nola, many, many, many scenes of Leslie being warned by Josh about "Candy" or whatever her name was). I know the actor genuinely did music but I also thought the overnight music sensation story was like something out of a B-movie from 20-25 years earlier.

I can't see Lainie and Floyd being hugely interesting as a pairing either though.

True, I don't see Lainie and Floyd being some hugely popular couple.

We also don't know what the Dobson's were ultimately planning for either character since they came on during the last months of their stint as head-writers and were being developed/intergrated onto the show.  With the Roger/Holly/Eve/Ed story, Alan/Hope, Jackie/Alan/Elizabeth/Justin stories were in full bloom in 1979... I have a feeling whatever was going to happen with those characters probably wouldn't have become apparent until 1980 at least.

 

On 11/5/2025 at 3:28 AM, Robluvthebeach said:

Sonia Satra has shared that they did ask her back in the mid-2003/04 timeframe but with a change of producers (from Conboy to Wheeler) that led to stop in the negotiations.

Oh wow!!  Sad it didn't work out.

14 hours ago, DeeVee said:

They TRIED to make the clone story about character, about Josh and Reva's relationship. That just made it come off as extremely creepy.

At least they were smart enough to pull the plug.

And cry me a river about how hard KZ had to work. She must have had a GREAT agent because other soap actors who played dual roles did not get paid extra. (Or they did and they lied about it.)

It's interesting because I'm coming up to the part where Dolly dies (recaps coming later), and this is finally where I feel like it's about character. Michael dies, Dolly gets emotional because he felt like her father/creator and she's never experienced death before... and then she essentially commits suicide by taking the aging drug. Finally I feel for Dolly, the emotions are there, the character-driven dialogue is there...  just as it's coming to it's 7-month end.

13 hours ago, P.J. said:

Short of growing five inches and packing on 30 pounds overnight, Bryan was never going to look as old as Rebecca Budig's Michelle. The irony is, Bethany Joy Lenz and Bryan are closer in age, and wouldn't have looked as mismatched as he and Budig did. 

I get that maybe they simply wanted Bill in more adult stories, but had they waited just a bit, we might not have suffered through Ryan Brown, who was horrible.

I can't say much now until I see it, which won't take me long as Budig leaves in late 1998 from what I've read, but I'll remember this so I can think about it as I watch. I always wonder what happens behind the scenes... like did Buffington ask to leave/pursue other opps, did Budig?... did they always plan to move Michelle to the Santos world (from my very limited understanding), meaning was Bill ever going to get the chance with her regardless of who played those characters?

They really hinted at a Michelle/Bill/J triangle during the summer of '07 after they graduated, but it sort of fell through quickly. I wonder who made that decision and why. I wonder once they knew they could get Ellen Parker back for some scenes, they decided to go the heart transplant route and ditch the Bill/J thing, but there could have been some great story there with connecting Michelle/Bill during that time. He could have been her rock while she had these visions and looked for Jesse, leading to a good Bill/Michelle/Jesse triangle, but again, maybe execs didn't think Buffington looked old or 'sexy' enough to make it exciting or believable? 

2 minutes ago, alwaysAMC said:

I can't say much now until I see it, which won't take me long as Budig leaves in late 1998 from what I've read, but I'll remember this so I can think about it as I watch. I always wonder what happens behind the scenes... like did Buffington ask to leave/pursue other opps, did Budig?... did they always plan to move Michelle to the Santos world (from my very limited understanding), meaning was Bill ever going to get the chance with her regardless of who played those characters?

They really hinted at a Michelle/Bill/J triangle during the summer of '07 after they graduated, but it sort of fell through quickly. I wonder who made that decision and why. I wonder once they knew they could get Ellen Parker back for some scenes, they decided to go the heart transplant route and ditch the Bill/J thing, but there could have been some great story there with connecting Michelle/Bill during that time. He could have been her rock while she had these visions and looked for Jesse, leading to a good Bill/Michelle/Jesse triangle, but again, maybe execs didn't think Buffington looked old or 'sexy' enough to make it exciting or believable? 

I do think this was the big factor (his age and appearance). He only had one small acting part after GL so I think it was probably their choice. 

I guess plans changed if Ethan Erickson told them he wanted to leave, then they also recast Bill.

I am not sure, but I don't believe they ever intended the Santos family to be as big as they ended up being. I think the original plans were likely to keep Michelle with Jessie. 

Thanks for bringing up the tribute to Keith Christopher. I'd forgotten. I am surprised they remembered him, especially as everyone he interacted with was gone by 1998. He had some moving scenes with Lucy. 

23 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Thanks for bringing up the tribute to Keith Christopher. I'd forgotten. I am surprised they remembered him, especially as everyone he interacted with was gone by 1998. He had some moving scenes with Lucy. 

I was so happy to see that tribute too. I remember he was included in Michelle's graduation storyline in mid-1997 when they commemorated the AIDS/HIV garden that she spoke at... which I think is why they had Michelle talk about him to Jesse, because you're right, otherwise the other characters from 1995 were gone by then. I'm at work now, so don't have my personal computer, but I feel like we saw him one other time post-1995 and Lucy/Susan's HIV storyline, but maybe it was still tagged to Lucy before she left in '96.  I'll have to check when I'm home.

5 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I guess plans changed if Ethan Erickson told them he wanted to leave, then they also recast Bill.

I am not sure, but I don't believe they ever intended the Santos family to be as big as they ended up being. I think the original plans were likely to keep Michelle with Jessie. 

They came to Erickson and told him they had a story, but he told them he was leaving. J. was a wasted character, he was a Chamberlin, his father had money, his grandfather, his aunt, they should have had some alley cat making the moves to trap him and have Nola confronted with..herself (that would have saved her from the horrible Buzz story..what were these writers thinking, the show could write itself if they got out of the way.)

The Santos family and the stupid fairy princes were supposed to be short term story. But I think Rauch or someone got sick of trying to write for the real GL and created this crap..(especially the island, it was so 80s OLTL...) 

21 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

True, I don't see Lainie and Floyd being some hugely popular couple.

We also don't know what the Dobson's were ultimately planning for either character since they came on during the last months of their stint as head-writers and were being developed/intergrated onto the show.  With the Roger/Holly/Eve/Ed story, Alan/Hope, Jackie/Alan/Elizabeth/Justin stories were in full bloom in 1979... I have a feeling whatever was going to happen with those characters probably wouldn't have become apparent until 1980 at least.

That's true...but. Whatever the Dobsons had planned for 1980, there were two big monkey wrenches thrown into the works: Lenore having to take maternity leave and Cindy taking time away to film a movie. 

Like Marland did, they would have likely used the first months of 1980 to wrap up the Roger story. Unlike Marland, they weren't going to start introducing a bunch of new characters who were being set up for big stories later on, but also filled in the holes left by Lenore and Cindy's absence.

I also don't see Lainie and Floyd becoming a couple (more likely, Floyd would have been friendzoned but still care about Lainie and her ill-advised crush on Ed), but maybe they would have had to become more prominent early in 1980 for this reason. 

It's interesting to contemplate what might have happened if the Dobsons had stayed on the show. They seemed to love Lezlie Dalton and Elizabeth, so I doubt she would have been written out. I wonder if the ultimate plan was to have Mike and Elizabeth get married at some point.

Or maybe not. Maybe Justin wouldn't have taken Elizabeth's infidelity so well. We might have gotten Dark Justin, mad that Elizabeth betrayed him and Jackie lied to him all those years. Possibly it would have been Mike and Jackie who got together in the end. (Assuming they did a better recast for Jackie).

As far as Alan and Hope, they were also headed for marriage under the Dobsons, but I believe it would have deteriorated MUCH faster. Again, Lenore's absence would have delayed that somewhat, because it's clear they had an Alan/Rita affair planned for a long time. I can see Alan becoming very controling over Hope and immediately being unfaithful to her (kind of like what happened to Barbara when she married James on ATWT), and her becoming disillusioned. Maybe they would have had her become pregnant, too, and feel trapped. (I'm certain they would have also killed off Rita's baby so she would have been unencumbered for this storyline). Either they would have introduced a new man for her, or possibly involved her again with Ben. MAYBE she would have been the one to find out about his involvement with Roger. Maybe they would have let her become a more interesting character than Marland's version, the endlessly loyal girl with little identity outside of being Alan's wife.

It's hard to say much beyond this. They likely had new characters and storylines planned that never came to be. But the show would have been quite different if they had stayed. OTOH, we would have missed out on some beloved characters, like the Chamberlains and the Reardons. 

Edited November 7Nov 7 by DeeVee

12 hours ago, alwaysAMC said:

I can't say much now until I see it, which won't take me long as Budig leaves in late 1998 from what I've read, but I'll remember this so I can think about it as I watch. I always wonder what happens behind the scenes... like did Buffington ask to leave/pursue other opps, did Budig?... did they always plan to move Michelle to the Santos world (from my very limited understanding), meaning was Bill ever going to get the chance with her regardless of who played those characters?

They really hinted at a Michelle/Bill/J triangle during the summer of '07 after they graduated, but it sort of fell through quickly. I wonder who made that decision and why. I wonder once they knew they could get Ellen Parker back for some scenes, they decided to go the heart transplant route and ditch the Bill/J thing, but there could have been some great story there with connecting Michelle/Bill during that time. He could have been her rock while she had these visions and looked for Jesse, leading to a good Bill/Michelle/Jesse triangle, but again, maybe execs didn't think Buffington looked old or 'sexy' enough to make it exciting or believable? 

It wasn't Bryan's choice. He said in his Locher room interview that he knew once RB was cast that the writing was on the wall for him. 

Maybe keeping Rachel Miner and him wouldn't have worked in the long run, but I think the audience would've continued to be invested in Bill and Michelle more than they were with Budig in the role.

10 hours ago, P.J. said:

It wasn't Bryan's choice. He said in his Locher room interview that he knew once RB was cast that the writing was on the wall for him. 

Maybe keeping Rachel Miner and him wouldn't have worked in the long run, but I think the audience would've continued to be invested in Bill and Michelle more than they were with Budig in the role.

Aww poor guy, I'll have to watch his Locher interview this weekend. He got a long time after Budig joined though - over 2 years! She started Dec 1995 and he left late Feb 1998.

5 minutes ago, alwaysAMC said:

Aww poor guy, I'll have to watch his Locher interview this weekend. He got a long time after Budig joined though - over 2 years! She started Dec 1995 and he left late Feb 1998.

I think the writers were fine focusing more on Michelle. Bill was a bigger presence when they were younger. It was one of the few times I really recall seeing parents parenting their preteen. Usually kids skipped from toddler thru preteen unscathed by their parents, hit 16-18 and then realized how screwed up they were. Bill was a definite presence in Billy and Vanessa's lives and relationships.

1 hour ago, P.J. said:

I think the writers were fine focusing more on Michelle. Bill was a bigger presence when they were younger. It was one of the few times I really recall seeing parents parenting their preteen. Usually kids skipped from toddler thru preteen unscathed by their parents, hit 16-18 and then realized how screwed up they were. Bill was a definite presence in Billy and Vanessa's lives and relationships.

I agree on this, and why it would have been important to keep the same actors in the role...We actually saw Bill and Chelle (less than the Bill actor) grow up. Now I kind of understand why they wanted to get an new actors for both..it would have been difficult to write more then they "Aw, shucks are those two together cute" storylines for the characters..I am still in therapy after seeing RM in that Bully, topless, foul mouthed and screwing...(not that GL would have shown that.) But they could have kept the actors and characters in slow burn and aging up naturally and not in a hot love story, Chelle's story could have been handed off to another character like Stacey Chambeline to give the actors and characters time..but in the long run (not a hallmark of soaps) it would have worked out..Miner was a really good actress in other shows, and the Bill actor grew up to be kind of sexy (I know, when I saw him on the Locher thing I felt weird thinking Little Bill was cute and not in the "Aw shucks look at that cute kid" way.)

I think keeping Miner was important to the audience as we all went through the "Death of Mo" thing with the character and the actress. Writing in Nola coming in and trying to be a replacement for Mo, in her weird Nola way, destined to fail..and being what Ed considered a "bad influence" on Chelle would have provided a bit of story without throwing Chelle into a "twu wuv" storyline and certainly avoiding the next actress panting over everything in pants, which we called "SlutChelle"!

9 hours ago, Mitch64 said:

I agree on this, and why it would have been important to keep the same actors in the role...We actually saw Bill and Chelle (less than the Bill actor) grow up. Now I kind of understand why they wanted to get an new actors for both..it would have been difficult to write more then they "Aw, shucks are those two together cute" storylines for the characters..I am still in therapy after seeing RM in that Bully, topless, foul mouthed and screwing...(not that GL would have shown that.) But they could have kept the actors and characters in slow burn and aging up naturally and not in a hot love story, Chelle's story could have been handed off to another character like Stacey Chambeline to give the actors and characters time..but in the long run (not a hallmark of soaps) it would have worked out..Miner was a really good actress in other shows, and the Bill actor grew up to be kind of sexy (I know, when I saw him on the Locher thing I felt weird thinking Little Bill was cute and not in the "Aw shucks look at that cute kid" way.)

I think keeping Miner was important to the audience as we all went through the "Death of Mo" thing with the character and the actress. Writing in Nola coming in and trying to be a replacement for Mo, in her weird Nola way, destined to fail..and being what Ed considered a "bad influence" on Chelle would have provided a bit of story without throwing Chelle into a "twu wuv" storyline and certainly avoiding the next actress panting over everything in pants, which we called "SlutChelle"!

 Bill, Michelle and Ben should've been the Musketeers of their era. They could've written age-appropriate stories of substance. No need to rush them into mob or psycho stories.

1 hour ago, P.J. said:

 Bill, Michelle and Ben should've been the Musketeers of their era. They could've written age-appropriate stories of substance. No need to rush them into mob or psycho stories.

When the show briefly tried to bring that back in 2002, it mostly made me feel sad. I'd say Michelle was like their mother, but even Maeve six feet under probably had more presence than NSA did.