One Life To Live stripped down

[Melroser]

All I want for X-Mas is a stripped down version of OLTL in 2010. For a show that seems to be coming in under budget, it surely has a bloated cast! With it's move to a new studio that is supposed to save it money, can we wish that the show would strip down its cast as well?

There are so many needless characters on this show and the recent announcement that Crystal Hunt (Stacy) has been let go is definitely a step in the right direction. Now I hope that the story leads to the dismissal of Amanda Setton (Kim) and Scott Clifton (Schuyler) with her.

Am I the only one that was hoping "Ross" would have offed "Destiny" the other day? Do we really need her on this show now that they seem to be wanting "Matthew" with "Danielle"? She is not needed and is annoying to watch. And speaking of Ross....can Michael Lowry's time be up as well? I find that character as appealing as watching an old lady checking out at the grocery store.

I understand the connection of "Noelle" and "Maurice" as a reminder of Paris, Texas, but honestly, I'd rather see "Viki" talking to someone...say..in her own family! January LaVoy and John Rue are recurring but can't you use that money to give Ilene Kristen another day? I'd rather watch "Roxy" in a drunk haze trying to tell "Trout" which way he should be swimming.

"Amelia" and "Nick" can finish their current stories and fade out in the new year as well. I understand their uses now, but they are not needed long term. Again, can we focus on the main families?

I know there are people whom are liking Cris and Layla, however, i find them boring! David Fumero has passed his time for me. With the mess between "Evangeline", "Sarah", and then the "Montez" fiasco, I am done with him. The two should leave town and take the faux "Carlotta" with them. I'd rather watch the main families on this show than a fractured spinoff.

And here goes...i will catch Hell for this one too...but...with John Brotherton no longer on, are we going to need Brian Kerwin? I think they should have him fall deep off of the wagon and roll into a pothole never to be seen again. Sorry, but he has no other connection on the show now and I'd rather see "Viki" go back to "Clint" and "Nora" with "Bo".....

alright...let the pasta fly!

That would trim down:

Crystal Hunt (Stacy)

Amanda Setton (Kim)

Scott Clifton (Schuyler)

Michael Lowry (Ross)

Shenell Edmonds (Destiny)

January LaVoy (Noelle)

John Rue (Maurice)

David Fumero (Cris)

Sandra Santiago (Carlotta)

Tiki Sumpter (Layla)

Brian Kerwin (Charlie)

"Amelia"

"Nick"

The return of Gina Tognoni (Kelly)is needed and hopefully Dan Gauthier (Kevin) will make appearances as well. Plus, I have a feeling it is only a matter of time before Thorsten Kaye will be back as "Patrick". You know it will happen.

Please...let's have a more focused ONE LIFE TO LIVE in the new year...as in Buchanans/Cramers. They are far more entertaining than any of the day players. Cut the cast and then you would have more money to use on the vets we want to see.

[All My Shadows]

I don't see how having a host of recurring characters removes focus from the Buchanans, Cramers, and Lords. Most of the recurring characters and sideline contract folks are connected to them in some way anyway. It adds a sense of community, IMO, and makes the show feel alive. I'd swap some recurring/contract players around, but I think that OLTL's current cast is fine the way it is...some exceptions, of course, but it's decent.

As a true-blue Pine Valley person, it pains me to say it, but the difference between lifeless, empty, hollow AMC and lively and vibrant OLTL is extremely noticeable when you watch them both. With OLTL, you have clearly defined families that have a nice number of members, so when you have these so-called family gatherings, there's actually a lot of people there, and not only that, but you get to have several storylines running in the same scenes. AMC, on the other hand, has only fragments of its family groups left, and that's why this year's Thanksgiving episode with a few scenes of the Hubbards was the best we'll probably get in the way of family togetherness.

[Vee]

No.

No.

Many of these people you name are not on contract; they're recurring players and aren't hurting anyone IMO. I love that Llanview has a huge population of contract and minor characters, a huge multicultural mix, and I love Viki and Charlie and I even like Cris and Layla. Also, Kim is pretty much a hit with a decent amount of people, and Sky is a shockingly nice guy on ABC Daytime. If we pare it down to just Bukes and Cramers we end up with Days of our Lives at its worst.

[DRW50]

The problem with OLTL's "main families" is how they have been damaged over the past decade.

If I have to choose between watching day players and watching Viki, Jessica, and Natalie enabling Todd after he helped kill Jessica's baby and almost killed Natalie, then I'll choose day players.

Mitch's return has been a great spark, but generally, the relationship between the Buchanans in recent times has been little more than Viki and Clint wringing their hands over their daughters, and an occasional sprinkle of, "David is evil." Clint has barely been a factor in the Bora reunion and the story with Kim is also mainly about her. With JvD on recurring this may not change. Other people who once helped fill the family out like Tina, Joey, and Kevin, are at best occasional guests, at worst distant memories.

Addie is rarely around and Blair no longer has interesting relationships with anyone. GT's Kelly, if she is written similarly to how she was the last time, will just look down her nose at Dorian and Blair. Dorian has nice relationships with Langston and Starr, but how long will it be before Langston has to go to Cassie/Adriana route of, "What a burden to be near Dorian, she wants to control me, I hate her"?

That's not even getting into dead space like John, Rex, Gigi.

If OLTL is going to make cuts then I think the cuts need to come at the top, as I think some of their big names, or what they consider big names, are suffocating the show. The smaller characters, and their more organic friendships, are what make the show hum, if you ask me.

[DeeeDee]

Amen.

I would cut John & Rex for Cord, Kevin & Joey though.

[Vee]

I think most of the characters listed above add to a sense of real community and diversity. John, OTOH, you could easily cut, which frees up much of this money in and it of itself. And Todd as well, unless they want to recommit to the character's redemption and/or bring Roger Howarth back, which would accomplish the former automatically - he would not play this material IMO.

As for David, he's played as lovable comedy now. Only the Buchanans have issues with him; we haven't been encouraged to see him as 'evil' since 1995.

[marceline]

It seems like everybody watching OLTL has their own "phuck, marry, kill" list

[Bright Eyes]

BEST. GAME. EVER!

[DRW50]

I've commented in this thread, but even now, I click on the title and hope it's something about the men finally doing a nude calendar for charity. Or any reason, really.

[EricMontreal22]

Exactly. While I admit to being pretty mixed on many of these characters, one thing OLTL really has going for it that I miss on, say, AMC is a sense of a real community which all these characters help do and it's something that soaps lack more and more lately

[All My Shadows]

Same here. I don't put it past FV/RC. I need to see Jason Tam without clothes on NOW.

[DeeeDee]

Amen!

[evermore]

Now that ATWT has been canceled, is there any chance Roger Howarth would return? (Assuming OLTL survives that long.) Now that Mitch is back, and Todd looks like Mitch's brother Walker, it could be interesting...

I like that there are so many recurring characters on OLTL; what I don't enjoy are some of the characters themselves. I don't care as much about who they bring back as much as who I wish they'd de-emphasize (or write out): Gigi, Stacey, Greg, Destiny, John McBain, and Rachel can all go: they're not great actors, their storylines are uninteresting, and I can't think of any way to make the characters interesting.

I like Schuyler, Marty, Shaun, Starr, Cole, Langston, and Marko, and I'd like to see them on screen more, but the writers don't seem to know what to do with these characters. (And once Cris & Layla officially get together, I'm afraid the writers won't know what to do with those two, either.) I'd rather see them bumped to recurring than languish with no storyline, or forced into bad ones.

[Aaron]

OLTL under RC reminds me (structurally) of what I've read of Harding Lemay's AW. The show is populated primarily by several longstanding families, with more of the "core" members still intact than MOST shows can say. And the canvas is positively overflowing with treasured and talented recurring characters that add depth and dimension to Llanview.

I *love* it. It still feels (to me) like the best of the old school soaps. The stories (whether good or bad) have a trajectory that actually goes somewhere, and they layer them amongst bigger umbrella stories.

It's not perfect, but then again, I can't think of ANY show, even in their golden ages, that didn't have SOME problems with casting and story. More than any other show left on daytime, OLTL gets it consistently RIGHT more often than not.

And I hope it lasts for a long, long time.

[YRBB]

The cast is, mostly, fine IMO.