I never knew that about Gus being the child of Alan and Rita! Did they try to get Lenore Kasdorf back?

I don't know for sure. I do know that it was one of those Taggert/Culliton tenure stories changed dramatically upon Weston's arrival. Taggert wanted the story connected to history and picked up on that loose end. Which reminds me of when Joan Collins was playing Alex, Collins dropped the line that Roger was supposed to be recast as her new love interest. That never happened either.

The aborted Dillon return on AMC in '02, with Tim, Janet and Amanda the baby dyke, was apparently thought up by Culliton and Agnes. From what I recall, they had even been fitting Robin Mattson for wardrobe to return as Janet before the thing got killed.

Which reminds me of when Joan Collins was playing Alex, Collins dropped the line that Roger was supposed to be recast as her new love interest. That never happened either.

That's right, and I can't remember if she said this or if it was just conjecture from the soap press, but it was rumored that he'd be played by none other than Mike Nader, her Dex.

His name had also been thrown about as a Victor recast a few years back, before EB's latest drama with the show. Of course given MN's bad rep, it's hard to say how much of ANY of that is true. Poor guy.

Edited December 2, 200916 yr by SFK

A couple of other AMC ones that came to mind. Yeah, I have too much time on my hands today LOL.

Years ago when Ruth was cheating on Joe with David Thornton, Agnes had planned to have Ruth leave Joe for David. She changed story direction at the last moment and had Ruth decide to stay with Joe. She threw in a quickie plot device about Joe having some sudden illness, which made Ruth realize how much she still loved Joe. Agnes said that she changed direction because she didn't want the audience to totally turn on Ruth. It's always been my belief that Ruth's brutal rape by Ray Gardner soon after was a way of somehow redeeming the character of Ruth. Redemption via rape has been an AMC theme throughout the years (Natalie, Gloria). Also, more recently the Frankie/Mia past with their son. That was quickly dropped and never spoken of again. Do the current writers know that Frankie has a son out there? LOL

They'll remember if and when it becomes convenient. Would the kid be about 10 by now? Maybe when he and Randi start a family, they'll be "burdened" with a troubled teen?

The aborted Dillon return on AMC in '02, with Tim, Janet and Amanda the baby dyke, was apparently thought up by Culliton and Agnes. From what I recall, they had even been fitting Robin Mattson for wardrobe to return as Janet before the thing got killed.

Really? Wow. Poor Robin

And then we got Trevor in a freezer.

And then we got Trevor in a freezer.

You know, do people even sit and take a moment to think before they make decisions like that?

You know, do people even sit and take a moment to think before they make decisions like that?

My theory is that when the show went south so preciptiously after the baby switch saga ended, McT became so bitter and fed up with it all that she simply decided that everything would be one big gigantic "F U" to the audience. Combine that with Frons' mandate that everything be for shock value, and the result we got was the show imploding before our eyes.

Edited December 2, 200916 yr by LoyaltoAMC

That's right, and I can't remember if she said this or if it was just conjecture from the soap press, but it was rumored that he'd be played by none other than Mike Nader, her Dex.

His name had also been thrown about as a Victor recast a few years back, before EB's latest drama with the show. Of course given MN's bad rep, it's hard to say how much of ANY of that is true. Poor guy.

I hadn't heard Nader being possibly tapped for the role. I do recall names like Charles Keating and Donnelly Rhodes being dropped, as was Anthony Herrera(!) and Randolph Mantooth as potential Rogers.

My theory is that when the show went south so preciptiously after the baby switch saga ended, McT became so bitter and fed up with it all that she simply decided that everything would be one big gigantic "F U" to the audience. Combine that with Frons' mandate that everything be for shock value, and the result we got was the show imploding before our eyes.

You have to wonder how often that happens on ABCD shows. We know Frons wants to re-invent them, or kill them, depending. Bring in someone like McT and we have the perfect storm.

It's no secret that some headwriters have ego issues. Anyone familiar with even the likes of Coronation Street knows old stories about characters being written off as a dare. As you say, contempt for the audience, but more often total disregard; indifference, cluelessness.

And I'm one of those viewers who believes we shouldn't have any input at all.

The OLTL racism storyline Malone had planned, from what I heard of it, though it may be wrong, sounded like a horrid botch of cliches and more OOC crap similar to his second run on the show. The version I was treated to involved Drew Buchanan and Rachel falling in love, much to the chagrin of a suddenly racist Becky Lee Abbott. (Somewhere Clint Ritchie is nodding, simpatico.) This situation would escalate and somehow R.J. was to end up dead. I love much of Malone's work at OLTL, but when he goes off the reservation, he goes way off.

It's important to note that the version we were "treated" to was penned by the writing team that was lead by the horrible Leah Laiman, who was promoted to co-head writer after Malone left.

Speaking of the Dillons, Megan during her 97-99 run was planning on introducing Janet's long-lost daughter Risa Jones. I guess the idea was dropped when Agnes returned as HW.

Back in 2007, both EE and Corrie had babynapping stories in the works. On EE, Dawn had had an affair with the husband of the local GP, general practitioner. This woman, May Wright ("Mad May"), could not have children, so she asked Dawn to let her adopt the baby. Dawn agreed, but went back and forth and generally drove May further over the edge. The story was supposed to end with May and her husband taking Dawn hostage, forcing her to have the baby, and then running off with the little girl.

The Corrie storyline was about married couple Ashley and Claire. Claire befriended a woman named Casey who had lost her child. They argued over Casey taking Claire's little baby out without permission. Casey burned the house down and the little baby was presumed dead. Actually, Casey was supposed to have had him, and he would have been missing for 4 months.

The Madeline McCann disappearance caused both of these stories to be heavily rewritten and a lot of scenes had to be thrown out. In the new stories, Dawn called the police on May and got to keep her child. Claire and Ashley worried for a day or two but then found their son in the park.

Edited December 3, 200916 yr by CarlD2

too bad that didnt happened bc I preferred Kelli Giddish as Dixie over Cady McClain

No doubt. Though she was too young for the role, Kelli Giddish rocked! I'd love to see her land on another soap. I could definitely see her on DAYS, maybe as a re-cast Horton or Noelle Curtis?

Culliton also was planning on bringing on a teen daughter for Alexis. There were a few scenes where Ned found Alexis writing secret letters to some mysterious person, who would have turned out to be the daughter. However that got scrapped and that casting call morphed into Elizabeth Webber, who the interim writers between Culliton and Guza brought on.

I was surprised, but happy, when GH referenced this when they made Sam her daughter.