Rating the Replacements (AW, B&B, DAYS)

[DRW50]

WINSOR HARMON

Thorne Forrester - B&B

Predecessor: Jeff Trachta

A-

CHARACTER PROFILE: The younger of the Forrester brothers, Thorne has always taken second place both in the formidable affections of his mother, Stephanie. Aside from their joint singing appearances, his marriage to Macy has ultimately resulted in Thorne's becoming more of a reactionary character than an instigator of story and conflict.

CRITIQUE: The phrase, "We are recasting because we want to take the character in a different direction," is one of the most tired cliches ever handed out by a press agent, but in this case it stands as a true and valid assessment. As soon as Harmon took over the role, Harmon became far more assertive, both in his relationships with women and in a newly rekindled rivalry with his brother, Ridge. Without question, Trachta is the more accomplished and experienced actor, but his far gentler and more refined style would have made such in-your-face scenes impossible. The recast was essential, given this new direction in Thorne's concept and writing. Admittedly, Harmon's acting is unpolished and somewhat clumsily modulated at times, but he is completely earnest, and the sincerity of his commitment goes a long way toward giving Thorne a renewed power and interest that is refreshing, indeed. The raw emotion he often conveys has been genuinely touching, and his good looks, too, are a definite asset. Cheekbone-wise, he and Ronn Moss (Ridge) are highly believable as brothers. - Freeman Gunter

MARK MORTIMER

Nick Hudson - AW

Predecessor: Kevin McClatchy

B

CHARACTER PROFILE: Nick arrived in Bay City a juvenile delinquent, reeling from the death of his mother and having just learned that Michael is his father. Despite his anger and attitude, Nick slowly began to integrate himself with the Hudson clan, and become part of a family, something for which he'd always longed. He never lost his edge, however, nor his tendency to seek out trouble - especially highlighted during his tumultuous pairing with Maggie. Nick blew Maggie off when he fell in love with Sofia; Maggie seduced Nick, feigned pregnancy and then got Nick to marry her. The marriage dissolved when Nick finally learned the truth. Sofia was unable to forgive Nick, and pushed him out of her life. Nick, however, isn't giving up without a fight.

CRITIQUE: Along with nice comedic timing, McClatchy had an unconventional look and toughness that complemented the feel of the character, and his choices were always right on the mark. So it was a little difficult to accept, let alone understand, the sudden recasting of Nick. Now that Mortimer is more comfortable in the role, it's becoming clearer what the producers were going for. Aside from his physical attributes, Mortimer has an interesting presence, and a warmth and vulnerability that was often missing in his predecessor's portrayal. True, some of the edges that at one time seemed to define Nick have disappeared, but they have been replaced by qualities that reveal a more mature and rounded character. - Lara De Losh

KRISTA ALLEN

Billie Reed - Days

Predecessor: Lisa Rinna

B

CHARACTER PROFILE: Rough, tough Billie came to Salem with a checkered past. She'd suffered sexual abuse, turned to drugs and even appeared in some erotic films. Needless to say, her self-esteem was at rock bottom. But through the love of a good man - widowed cop Bo - Billie managed to turn her life around. She started her own business and began garnering some respectability. Then, fate threw her a curve when Bo's "dead" wife, Hope, turned up alive. The new, improved Billie did the gallant thing and headed to Paris on business, so that Bo and Hope could sort out their feelings.

CRITIQUE: Rinna's Billie was a streetwise tomboy. She was a wild, vivacious free spirit, who was always right there, in your face. Allen's Billie is softer, more subdued and genteel. (Fortunately, the character's sojourn to Paris lent itself nicely to this transformation.) Allen's looks don't cry out "street girl" the way Rinna's did, so taming Billie a bit was a good move. Allen still displays Billie's heart and soul, just a little more softly. And what she lacks in earthiness, she makes up for with her connection to the character and uncanny grasp of what makes Billie tick. Although the actresses' portrayals of Billie are different, they share the ability to make the audience root for them - no matter what their reasons. - Janet Di Lauro

[Y&RWorldTurner]

They're being way too kind with those grades for McClatchy and Allen...

[DRW50]

Mortimer wasn't much of an actor but as I hated the character of Nick, a character which amounted to lots of yelling, misogyny, and egotism (basically the JFP template for a leading man), I preferred Mortimer to McClatchy. I never really "got" the latter.

I was surprised Allen got a positive rating that early on as I didn't think she won a lot of fans over until later on. I hadn't seen much of Rinna but I thought Allen was not great until the time Billie was hooked on heroine by the bad guys and forced to go through withdrawl. She was pretty good in those scenes.

At the time I was put off when Harmon was cast, as I liked Jeff Trachta. I still think Jeff was the better Thorne but with Thorne/Brooke I began to see Harmon's appeal. He and KKL were great together. It's funny though, since then he has generally been as reactionary and pointless as Trachta was in those last years.

[EricMontreal22]

I was just gonna say, I liked Harmon a lot (as rough as his acting could be) when he was on AMC (what a waste that recent recast was), but it seemed like he got backburnered fairly quickly too. At the time I remember kinda feeling back for Jeff. (Interestingly, Harmon looks more like the original Thorne, Clayton Norcross).

[DRW50]

I know some fans intensely disliked the story he was in with Maria -- one fan told me how very horrified they were by hearing Maria talk about her self-abortion. The stuff with Kendall, was that mostly backburner?

Harmon was sort of a return to Norcross, yes. They had the rivalry with Ridge and Thorne over Caroline. This changed with Trachta, but then I don't think the rivalry was ever all that interesting with any actors. The one with Harmon didn't last that long either. I remember the dumb stuff with Taylor when he saved her from a fire and so on and she was upset over being burned and would she be permanently scarred. They had a real life burn victim talk to her, and he did a good job, Hunter did a good job in the scenes, and they were moving scenes. But then in no time at all, probably not even two weeks, she went to get plastic surgery and she was perfectly fine, not one scar. I almost felt insulted for the man who had agreed to be on the show, even though I still understood the point of the story. I guess this was the first or one of the first "issue" stories Bradley Bell would mangle.

Anyway, I liked Trachta's Thorne better, as I liked him with Macy, and I enjoyed their singing, and when Eric and Sally would join them in singing. That type of cheese is what B&B did best.

Harmon has had some good moments but generally he's been a set decoration.

[JackPeyton]

Krista Allen got a B?! A B!???!

WHAT THE [!@#$%^&*]!

No... just no. Giving her an F would be to kind.

[DRW50]

So Jack how would you rank the Billies, including Lisa's brief 2002 return?

[JackPeyton]

Lisa Rinna 1st run- A+

Krista Allen - UnRateable

Lisa Rinna 2nd run- Acting: C (She clearly wasnt into it); Writing/Story: D

Julie Pinson- Acting: A; Writing/Story: D+.

Lisa, on her first run, was fantastic. She had great chem and really sold everything they gave her. She had great chem with Elieen & Missy as friends, family chem with everyone she was related to, romantic chem with Peter, Robert, and even Matt Ashford. The writing and storylines they gave her were also great.

Kirsta Allen... i just... i cant even. No. Just, no.

Lisa Rinnas second run was not good. She so clearly hated her storyline and everything about it. The show had no idea what it was doing. It was a disaster and i am glad she bolted as soon as she could. This was really one of says' worst times, only slightly being worse during the island and hogans run.

Julie Pinson, i was scared... lol. I knew Julie was good but Billie had been ruined twice now. Julie made it work and the story was actually ok. The writing really was good for awhile, esp her and Steve and then with Chelsea and Nick (odd too since this was an awful time on days). Once they stopped forcing her into Bos world bretty much. Pinson and Reckell has ok chem, but nothing special. I was sad to see her go too because she worked really well where they had her at the time, with lucas/sami/ej and that group.

Bo & Billie will forever be my fave soap opera couple. I just loved them, well the first run of Billie anyways. I would welcome Julie Pinsons billie back, if they had reason/need (and they dont right now). Krista went on to become am ok actress here and there, and Rinna hasnt acted much, but was FAB on Veronica Mars and i cant wait for her reality show. But i also have a personal love for Rinna because she was SO good to me when SoapTalk was on and id go. She always hooked me up and made sure i met everyone and was just so nice and real.

[DRW50]

Thanks. Were you as offended by that story with Pinson's Billie and Bo (the one where some said she raped Bo) as some fans were?

[EricMontreal22]

He's on recurring now anyway, isn't he? I never got why they can't do more with the character. And yeah, I've only seen the singing in clips online, but it seems fun.

(Did Bradley or his dad do the infamous sexual abuse story with the guy and the sound of keys or something,that everyone thought was resolved awfully).

I admit at the time I kinda liked the whole Maria backstory with him--it seemed tragic and I think I dug that as a young kid, but in hindsight I completely get why some were so put off by it. The Kendall stuff was a bit more backburner, he was ghostwriting that book about Erica with her. Then there was the stuff with umm that older guy and they were gaslighting Dixie with a Will double (this was when McTavish;'s love of doubles, etc, was getting out of control). But I did like him int he role--and wow it was a waste when they brought the character back.

[DRW50]

Did Del have anything to do with Dixie when she came back for a year?

Yeah, Bill Bell wrote the abuse story, I think. Or he was the main headwriter then, perhaps supervising for Bradley.

[EricMontreal22]

I think people thought the abuse storyw as handled well--*at first*...

You know, I can't even remember if NuDel interacted with Dixie or not. They barely aknowledged the Maria or Kendall stuff, but there was interaction with Di of course. They really had no intention of doing anythign with the recast (he won that Soapstar show...)

[SFK]

I want to say that he did have a *little* interaction with real Dixie, but I'm not sure, and yes, I may be confusing it with the Di/Dixie stuff. Sitting here at the memory of Di sweetly and not at all convincingly saying, "I'm Dixie" while schmaltzy music played. I read in a CM interview that she was in fact supposed to play Di at first in a dual role, then that didn't work out and KG was cast as Di and would remain Di, the imposter, if CM came back BUT would in fact be Dixie if CM declined to return. That should have been their first clue to leave this story the hell alone. But back to Del #2, when we bought a TotalGym, he's the male model on the box.

[soapfan770]

Nick Hudson on AW was a character I don't recall caring for too much. McClatchy if I recall was a JFP tool having appeared on all the soaps she produced including GL. She fired the original actor Justin Chambers. I suppose Chambers now has the last laugh these days.

Trachta was alright, but Thorne was never my favorite character and Macy in my opinion was always better in her non-Thorne stories (see her relationships with Sly, Grant, and Deacon). I still don't understand those mass demonstrations in front of CBS and Trachta going to the soap press and using early online forums to declare he was the star of the show. Hmm he was pretty much forgotten after a couple years wasn't he? I've always enjoyed Harmon even though he's been largely wasted for the last 13 years. That burn story was horrible; hell we even saw Britney on Y&R have scars for months afterward.

As for Allen well she's still acting but she's never landed in a place for her career to take off. She's will probably always be best known for her scene in Liar Liar. I didn't much care for her as Billie, especially when they tried to pair her with Josh Taylor's Roman. The one story I did like, Billie/Nicholas/Kate was abruptly cut short by Allen's exit.

[DaytimeFan]

I have always liked Winsor Harmon's Thorne. Not the greatest actor, but his chemistry with KKL is off the charts. I think that, when given the material, he really succeeds.

I also really liked Allen's Billie. I thought Allen was a much better match to Lauren Koslow and Austin Peck. I also thought Allen was drop dead sexy (she still is). I thought she wasn't a perfect actress, but the writing for Billie changed a lot too. I also really liked her pairing with Josh Taylor and the Nicholas/Kate triangle as well. I thought she was a really appealing performer. Maybe not an actress, but certainly a star.