The best/worst Baby Switch Storylines

[Harmony233]

I had always heard how great the Jenny/Katrina babyswitch was.It was before my time.I would have loved to see it though.

[Gray Bunny]

Ah yes, her "mother of the year" party for Hope (in order for Rolf to mess with her mind again). I have that all on tape somewhere...

[dc11786]

Ugh. Awful storyline. Michelle thought Tony might be the baby's father for all of a minute. Yeah, it was short and awful. Edmund convinced Michelle, who just returned back to town after coping with Tony's death, he would look after her. I believe he all ready had Dinah, who was acting as the surrogate of Cassie and Edmund's baby, locked away. When Michelle gave birth, he left her in a car accident and later torched a house with Dinah inside. It all played out from August until November when every single actor in the story was fired or, in Laura Wright's case, left of their own accord.

[LoyaltoAMC]

I HATE baby switch plots. They're such obvious plot-driven attempts by lazy writers to create their precious umbrella stories. Of course, AMC was the one that started the spate of these stories over the past several years. For what it was, it was well thought out, though it suffered from the relentless Babe propping, which was probably the end-game intent of the plot anyway. I did like the touching though corny way it culminated with Bianca in the her hospital room reading Mona's letter to coincide with the show's 35th anniversary. I remember the Jenny/Katrina baby switch story on OLTL years ago. It went on forever and was so convoluted. If the internet existed back then, we'd be lacing into the show. It wasn't a particularly good era for the show creatively or ratings-wise. This one currently on Y&R looks to be just awful. I barely watch the show anymore, but from what I've seen of it and from the spoilers I've read, I'm not missing anything particularly good or interesting.

[JackPeyton]

Thats not true. Good ones can be done. The current one on Days is all character driven. Thats why the Days one has been so fantastic too. Its works, it makes since, nobody is propped or thrown under the bus.

Also, i wouldnt say AMC set this off. There have been a healthy amount of baby swicth plots each decade, and if anything Days' first swap this decade set off the chain reaction.

[LoyaltoAMC]

No, AMC didn't invent baby swap stories, but the Babe/Bianca thing was a huge hit and got a lot of media attention, and was definitely the impetus for those that came after. Like I said, I wasn't a huge fan of that storyline, but there's no denying that it impacted storytelling on other shows. I really don't watch Days, so I can't comment on their current story. Something must be working there, because their ratings are way up.

[Bright Eyes]

Was the Jenny/Katrina switch, the first?

[DRW50]

Yes, it was.

[quartermainefan]

I really don't understand this sneering at the word "plot". Every story began with the writers saying to themselves "what can we do with XYZ? How about a story where they do ___" and then you have a plot. The DOOL story was just as plot driven as the ones on every other soap, including the crooked doctor, the coincidental birth days, and every other element written in to facilitate the continuation of the baby switch for a year and a half. Rather than be lazy, I see it is a lot of careful planning making sure every character from Mia and Chad, to Sami and Rafe, to EJ and Nicole, to Chloe, Stefano, the doctor and nun...all were put specifically in place to drive the story along. It isn't like Nicole of her own free will just called up the writers and said "I am stealing a baby, you might want to get a camera and crew over here right now."

[Sindacco]

I agree, I loved that one. Especially during the end of it when Bo and Hope had to give up JT to Glen and Barb, and Lexie went crazy.

[ChiTownBoi03]

MMM that was good...I found alittle of this on an old VHS tape. Is this the party where Bo beat the crap out of John after part of the paternity reveal came out?

[Sindacco]

Yep

[Darn]

I like that one, I especially liked that they dedicated an entire episode to the climax (and I believe it was sponsored by Kleenex), soaps need to do more of that.

[aMLCproduction]

I remeber the kleenax tie in. I am surprised so many people liked that storyline