Short term characters who took off

[Paul Raven]

Who are some characters that were never intended to stay around,but for whatever reason ended up staying around for longer than intended..

Some I can think of

Patch (DOOL) originally a thug who was there to terrorise Kayla-became one of daytime's iconic characters.

Luke (GH) was going to die but Bobbie's boyfriend Roy took the bullet instead

Victor (Y&R) also was going to be killed off as Brock and Julia were intended to be the money couple,but Beau Kayzer left and Bill Bell fell in love with the Victor character.

Can you think of others?

[DRW50]

Marco Dane (OLTL) was supposed to be killed off, but the character took off and Gerald Anthony was too good to write out, so they had it where his twin, Mario, was the murder victim and Marco pretended to be Mario.

Marcie (OLTL) initially just made a few appearances as Jen's obsessive/desperate friend, but Tomlin liked her and then Malone began really writing for her.

Sally Spectra (B&B ) was originally just a small time character who appeared at a show to be a contrast to the glitzier Forrester, but they saw a lot of potential in her and she stuck around.

Sheila Y&R - that character was never supposed to last past the end of the baby switch story

Phyllis Y&R - she was just the spoiler in the Danny/Christine relationship, but then she just became huge, especially around 1996, when more and more of the drama focused on her (the hospital chapel scenes where Daniel was fighting for his life; the hilarious scenes where she and Tim Reid went to Nevis and she put an octopus in the Christine/Paul honeymoon bed)

Paul Y&R - initially just a seedy type who gave Nikki VD

Henry Coleman ATWT - I don't think he was supposed to last past the story where Katie's WOAK schemes were exposed

Carolee The Doctors - she was just an extra, basically, and then when they were running short, Carolee Campbell would ad-lib conversations with an imaginary boyfriend over the phone at the nurse's desk. She became popular and they began using her more.

Benny Sago AMC

Myrtle Fargate AMC

[JellicleCat]

Lisa (ATWT) was only intended for a short run, but Irna Phillips saw potential with the character so she kept her and Lisa became daytime's first superstar.

Henry (ATWT) another short term character that became popular with the audience and has remained on canvas for a decade now.

[JackPeyton]

Mia on days was a 2 week role, its been about a year now.

[Cheap21]

OLTL's Lindsay. Catherine Hickland was only supposed to be around for 3 days as Sam's ex wife and she turned that role into a 10 year stint

[DRW50]

I think John Dixon (ATWT) also fits this category. He was originally hired just to be a background doctor and read medical jargon.

[reallyhateskateonlost]

Maurice Benard, Sonny on GH was I think suppose to be for 3 episodes. They they paired him with Brenda.

[Cheap21]

and its all been downhill since then

[DRW50]

I think Sonny had a longer run than 3 episodes before he ever met Brenda. I can't remember if they kept him around longer because they wanted to do the Karen/Cari story or if they were going to get rid of him but kept him to put him with Brenda. Either way, in the long run that and the Jason Morgan story were both big mistakes.

[reallyhateskateonlost]

I knew somebody was going to say that.

[Cheap21]

lol...well its true

[GladGirl]

DAYS' Patch was actually brought on as someone from Bo's past (to cause problems for Bo and Hope). By the time Patch was terrorizing Kayla, the character was on the show for about a year and was pretty popular. They brought back Kayla to pair her up with Patch.

[vetsoapfan]

Actually, just a note. Paul did NOT give Nikki VD. It was the other way around. She infected him. he gave her hell for it, too. I was watching the show at the time. Anyway, the specifics of this were misreported in a soap publication years ago, and the myth...took off, LOL!

The actor who plays Paul has given interviews lamenting the loss of his character's good name, LOL, and correcting the mistake, but the myth persists to this day, 30 years later.

[dm.]

Chloe Mitchell Y&R - only supposed to be a short-term fashionista, but then they went ahead and made her Kate Valentine.

[UKBoi]

And I will forever love Y&R for this. Chloe is my favourite character on a soap right now. Mainly because of Elizabeth Hendrickson, I don't think many actresses could have injected the layers of humour into Chloe, who could have come off as a little one note and dislikable in the hands of anyone else.