19 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Yes. I just thought it was an awful story. Given that Roger had behaved horribly I wasn't rooting for him, but I resented the choices made with the character to get him to that story, including having him rape Dinah. It felt like a major regression all for the sake of having her sleep with his son. The caliber of an actor like Zaslow being stuck in that story...and knowing it would end up being his last storyline. 

Beaty was certainly a much better actor, but to me that might have been like casting Tim Gibbs as Kevin Buchanan on OLTL - adding so much intensity to a part that didn't need it. 

The only Ed where I really noticed a blonde look was probably the weakest (Richard Van Vleet), but I do see what you mean. They cast a brunette Rick before MOL too.

The main problem with Aleksander as Rick is that Rick hadn't had the dramatic life Philip had had. Even though Jared Ross' Philip was quieter, there was a lot of story for Philip to be darker as he grew up. I think Rick worked as the lighter contrast. It's just that as he got older the show lost sight of how to write for him and they veered into pathetic. 

I remember MOL telling a story of when they went to Universal for the Lucy and Alan-Michael wedding, and I think he said the director asked him to dance with himself, while all the couples were dancing, and he thought it was [!@#$%^&*] pathetic. And it was. 

Ouch ! Telling him to dance with himself.  What actors do you think could have been a more suitable Rick ?

 

 

 

 

 

18 minutes ago, SoapDope said:

Ouch ! Telling him to dance with himself.  What actors do you think could have been a more suitable Rick ?

Most of the worst aspects of Rick after he returned in 1995 I'd put down to direction and writing more than anything else, but if I had to choose, I think someone like Michael Brainard might have worked.

What recasts or new characters in the JFP years do we think she tried to get her friends cast in, but the friend wasn't interested? I pointed out earlier that I think JFP wanted one of her friends for Alan recast but the friend turned down the part.

2 hours ago, kalbir said:

What recasts or new characters in the JFP years do we think she tried to get her friends cast in, but the friend wasn't interested? I pointed out earlier that I think JFP wanted one of her friends for Alan recast but the friend turned down the part.

A Martinez turned down a role, I think.

Edited August 13, 20241 yr by DRW50

4 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Most of the worst aspects of Rick after he returned in 1995 I'd put down to direction and writing more than anything else, but if I had to choose, I think someone like Michael Brainard might have worked.

Michael Brainard is an interesting choice, because his Jake on AMC was a fairly similar character. But I don't think a recast would have helped the problems with Rick post-Abby, which plagued a lot of the aging "good guy" characters in the cast: Frank, Matt, even to some extent Josh. They were almost interchangeable, giving off the same "sad dad" energy (while occassionally slipping into judgemental self-righteousness).

And they just seemed adrift most of the time, as if they were waiting to be partnered with a more dynamic female character that they could act as the straight man for. If they had paired Frank up with Blake and Rick up with Mindy a little earlier, rather than waiting until the final week, both characters would have had more purpose.

GL was blessed with a lot of extremely well-written long-running female protagonists, who had distinctive flaws and points of view that made each of them unique. But for some reason, they couldn't figure out how to do that for most of their male characters, who seemed relatively flat in comparison. 

23 minutes ago, prefab1 said:

Michael Brainard is an interesting choice, because his Jake on AMC was a fairly similar character. But I don't think a recast would have helped the problems with Rick post-Abby, which plagued a lot of the aging "good guy" characters in the cast: Frank, Matt, even to some extent Josh. They were almost interchangeable, giving off the same "sad dad" energy (while occassionally slipping into judgemental self-righteousness).

And they just seemed adrift most of the time, as if they were waiting to be partnered with a more dynamic female character that they could act as the straight man for. If they had paired Frank up with Blake and Rick up with Mindy a little earlier, rather than waiting until the final week, both characters would have had more purpose.

GL was blessed with a lot of extremely well-written long-running female protagonists, who had distinctive flaws and points of view that made each of them unique. But for some reason, they couldn't figure out how to do that for most of their male characters, who seemed relatively flat in comparison. 

I would agree. Brainard also played a slightly similar character on Santa Barbara, so that's why I named him, but the problem was more the writing and the lack of interest in the characters. By the last years the show only wanted to write for edgy men, even as they had no idea how to write for those men, ending in a bizarre and offputting hybrid (like Jeffrey) along with various psycho or borderline psycho men who often didn't last long (unless they were played by Tom Pelphrey).

My question is... who could/should have played Blake?

The woman was raised as a Bauer, is the daughter of Roger and Holly, had all this drama with the Spaulding boys, is the mother to Ross Marler's kids, she is even Dinah's stepmom. She should have been as important as the Carlys on GH and ATWT. 

After Ross was killed, it was the right time to bring a stronger, sexier, more dynamic Blake. After the coma. Jamie Luner? Stacy Haiduk? Sarah Joy Brown? Tamara Braun? Sandra Nelson? Cady McClain? I know the show was a mess by still. 

3 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I would agree. Brainard also played a slightly similar character on Santa Barbara, so that's why I named him, but the problem was more the writing and the lack of interest in the characters. By the last years the show only wanted to write for edgy men, even as they had no idea how to write for those men, ending in a bizarre and offputting hybrid (like Jeffrey) along with various psycho or borderline psycho men who often didn't last long (unless they were played by Tom Pelphrey).

Interesting choice. I wonder what Michael E. Knight would have been like as Rick (especially if he had been cast in the role in 1982) ?

30 minutes ago, Sapounopera said:

My question is... who could/should have played Blake?

The woman was raised as a Bauer, is the daughter of Roger and Holly, had all this drama with the Spaulding boys, is the mother to Ross Marler's kids, she is even Dinah's stepmom. She should have been as important as the Carlys on GH and ATWT. 

After Ross was killed, it was the right time to bring a stronger, sexier, more dynamic Blake. After the coma. Jamie Luner? Stacy Haiduk? Sarah Joy Brown? Tamara Braun? Sandra Nelson? Cady McClain? I know the show was a mess by still. 

l ways liked Nelson when she took over as Phyllis on Y&R, but a lot of the audience wanted Stafford back. I liked Stafford during her first run, then she started hamming it up on her return. 

43 minutes ago, SoapDope said:

Interesting choice. I wonder what Michael E. Knight would have been like as Rick (especially if he had been cast in the role in 1982) ?

I think he would have been too smarmy, but you never know.

I've been thinking. I know you have reasons why MOL should not have been Rick. However, to me I just bet that Mikey was such a member of the GL family that the actors abilities or lack thereof did not matter.

54 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I think he would have been too smarmy, but you never know.

I guess being smarmy would have given Rick something of a personality....LOL

I remember someone saying Susan Lucci should be a recast Julia Newman on Y&R....😱

 

 

14 minutes ago, SoapDope said:

I guess being smarmy would have given Rick something of a personality....LOL

I remember someone saying Susan Lucci should be a recast Julia Newman on Y&R....😱

I think the biggest problems with Rick started in the late '90s/early '00s, which was also when MEK fell off (to be honest I am not a huge MEK fan anyway, although to his credit he has looked much healthier in recent years so more power to him).

I can't see Susan in that part at all.

25 minutes ago, Contessa Donatella said:

I've been thinking. I know you have reasons why MOL should not have been Rick. However, to me I just bet that Mikey was such a member of the GL family that the actors abilities or lack thereof did not matter.

I like him too. He is Rick. Sure, I can think of several other actors (from Michael E. Knight, Vincent Irizarry, Ricky Paull Goldin, Robert Bogue, hey even Michael Park) playing the part through the years, but I think that he could be very valuable to the show with the right kind of writing. Mel was his last chance, I would have kept them together and would have given them the go-to-couple role. 

53 minutes ago, Sapounopera said:

I like him too. He is Rick. Sure, I can think of several other actors (from Michael E. Knight, Vincent Irizarry, Ricky Paull Goldin, Robert Bogue, hey even Michael Park) playing the part through the years, but I think that he could be very valuable to the show with the right kind of writing. Mel was his last chance, I would have kept them together and would have given them the go-to-couple role. 

Mel was a good actress, character, family member & pairing for a Bauer. They worked. 

42 minutes ago, Sapounopera said:

Mel was his last chance, I would have kept them together and would have given them the go-to-couple role. 

I think Mel and Rick could have worked as an anchor couple if only any of the writers had actually taken an interest in fleshing out Mel as a character beyond "black professional woman" and gave us more insight into her motivations and backstory. I think that Lucky Gold, who created the Boudreaux family, gave us a few hints of that--for instance, how she felt pressure to live up to her academic parents' high expectations of black excellence, while her brother Remy rejected them. But I can't recall that ever getting explicitly discussed on the actual show, even though it would help explain otherwise absurd stuff like Mel starting off as a doctor then switching careers to law. 

I think you probably could have gotten a good set of small realistic storylines out of issues like "Mel is busy with law school and feels like Rick isn't pulling his weight with childcare" or "Mel and Rick have clashing perspectives on raising a biracial child." But during the early 2000s especially, the show was not interested in telling those kinds of grounded realistic stories.