Failed famailies

[All My Shadows]

Yeah. I always wished they'd have brought on a sister or cousin for Krystal, though, someone who was either a bitch (and owned it) or comic relief. She always mentioned an Aunt Tallulah.

Didn't OLTL try to make the Walshes happen? With Marcie's daddy and brother or something like that?

They weren't a family per se, but it was hilarious to watch AMC try to make Carlos and Juan Pablo happen, the mysterious Latin lover brothers. Gag me with a damn spoon.

[Sindacco]

I hated all of them. If there's one thing Sheffer did right it was getting rid of The Lockharts.

[Sylph]

This is so true and depressing. The Marrone family is such a pale, lifeless formation, it really needs to be gone. Or somehow, God will only know how, re-arranged or re-created. I still cannot fully accept how they've been reduced to this much of a failure, I can only grieve over their colossal, epic annihilation. It's just sad. What could have been...

And the Ramirez clan...

+1

[Paul Raven]

The Kirklands on Ryan's Hope-Hollis,Amanda,Catsy etc took over the show and were dumped when Claire Labine returned.

[Cheap21]

I wanted Krystal to get a sister as well bc aside from that aunt, we never knew anything about her history or family.

I dont think they tried to make the Walshes happen. Her dad and gay brother only made a few appearances; nothing ever to tie them down to Llanview. Ron was around for a bit but was recurring and had no story. He was just there to support Marcie

I just remembered the Macivers, Lanie, Colin, Troy, and Emily. They were extensions of the Rappaort clan but even more lame. Highly forgettable

[Mr. Vixen]

GH- The Eckerts (They could never have replaced the Quartermaines, Gloria!)

Gh- The Alcazars Both the brothers AND the daughter are dead

[DeeeDee]

GH's Kelly's

OLTL's Price's

ATWT's Harris

AMC's Lewis

[Paul Raven]

Let us not forget ATWT's beloved Kasnoff family Mike,Mark,Sara.Mom Nora was hinted at arriving but new writers dumped them.

Corinne Jacker created the working class Shea family on AW-Harry,Loretta,Pete and Diana.Within a year they were gone.

[All My Shadows]

OK yeah, I was thinking that Marcie's family were only around for short visits. I think I was confusing the Walshes with the McBains.

[LoyaltoAMC]

The ones that come most to mind are the ones that TPTB tried to foist on the audience and who wound up eliciting such a negative reaction from viewers, or ones whom viewers never really warmed to. Some of these were mentioned up-thread: Kirklands (RH), Kasnoffs (ATWT), Eckerts (GH), Gregorys and Sheas (AW), Ferreiras (EastEnders), Chins (AMC), Dennisons (Y&R).

[DeeeDee]

Poor Ivan.

[Cheap21]

they did try to make the McBains happen and miserably. They brought on John's mother, Eve and put her with Bo. His cousin Shannon joined and went after Rex. I liked Shannon but not much was really done with her. They brought that chick who was the sister of John's ex-fiancee. I cant even remember her name but she was annoying and it wasnt long before they got rid of her. And of course there was Michael, which they gave a strong tie to the show after they killed off Al and inserted Michael as the other half of the popular Al and Marcie pairing. John's father died decades before he came to town, yet he kept making appearances as a ghost and flashbacks. The McBain family history was heavily depicted and influenced the stories. Bottom line is no one really gave a damn and it just amounted to some horrible and boring OLTL stories all focused around John

[DRW50]

I'm not sure which characters were ever intended to be a family. As others said, I never felt like they tried to make Marcie's family any type of permanent characters on OLTL. The same went for the Boudreauxs on GL -- 75% of the family never had a single storyline. It was shameful. They were introduced and the only one who had a story was Mel. Her brother and parents would show up sometimes and react to her. Sheri Headley's biggest acting moment was playing a slave. There's a reason those roles were recast so many times -- the actors quit in disgust.

Others I'm not sure on. What about the Colemans on ATWT? They never tried to have Audrey stick around permanently, and Eve was always a short term psycho. Since Henry and Maddie were popular, does that mean the family wasn't a failure, since they never tried?

Would that awful brother and sister, the girl who was in the crate and her boxer brother, count for ATWT?

A few which haven't been mentioned...

AMC - Boring Laurie, the girlfriend for Andrew Ridings's JR, and her father, who was sort of hinted at for Liza. It's too bad, because I like Robert Clohessy a lot and I thought he worked well with Marcy Walker.

OLTL - The Hessers. Carlo was certainly legendary in his day, but can we saw the same about Johnny Dee, Charlotte, that boring niece who dated John Wayne Bobbitt. Or poor Talia?

AW - Remember the black woman who worked as a hospital administrator, what was her name, Rita Madison? Her daughter had been on the show several years before as Felicia's AA sponsor. They almost never had scenes. The daughter was recast several times. Then they brought in Rita's son Chris. This was supposed to be a complex, bitter relationship, and then Rita simply vanished, never to be mentioned again.

Coronation Street - They have struggled several times to bring in a new family. In the early 70s they tried to bring in the Hopkins family, a shopgirl, her parents (the mother was Kathy Staff, who went on to popular roles in Crossroads and Last of the Summer Wine), and a gorgon grandmother named Idris. Idris was supposed to be the new Ena Sharples, but fans seriously disliked her and her nasty attitude, so after a few years, the family was gone. The "success" of the family was Tricia's best friend Gail Platt, who stayed around and is still a major player 35 years later.

In 1985 the show decided to bring in a "normal" family, the Connors. They were dull and viewers never cared. In 2007 the show had a big entrance for a new rough and tumble family, the Mortons, but the stories weren't there and they were labeled a failure. They did become more popular towards the end but by then most of the family was fired. The only one left is the acidic estranged mother, Teresa.

Hollyoaks - There are a ton of families littered along the Chester roadside but probably the most blatant was the Roy family. In 2008, Ravi Roy was brought into the show, and a few weeks later, his sister Laila. This was followed later that year by his parents, businessman brother, and baby sister Anita. By a year later, the entire family had been axed, aside from Ravi/Laila/Anita. Then Laila quit the show, so it's just Ravi and Anita, both unpopular and pointless.

Emmerdale - Probably the biggest failure was a family named the Cairns, who took up a lot of airtime in 1997 but were mostly gone a year later. There was also a family brought in around 2002-2003, the Marsden family. Again the family did not work for anyone. The only thing memorable about them is that Paul Marsden was the first on Carl's long list of deaths.

[Sapounopera]

The Dennisons! I always found it weird that Bill Bell gave Jill the exact same storyline twice. Involved with a businessman John/Keith, about to marry him, his two daughters arrive and don't want their father to marry her. Ashley/Tricia and Traci/Megan..

[DRW50]

Were the Dennisons unpopular? I know that the father was a bore, but I thought Megan had some fans, and Tricia worked very well as a character once they started writing her as mentally unbalanced.