9 minutes ago, TheyStartedOnSoaps said:

Before she turned down the 3 year deal, the writers were steering Janice into a relationship with Andy. If she continued, I could see her and Andy being a pair, and causing all sorts of problems with Kim (as a potential mother-in-law)

It would be "Joyce Colman" all over again!

Janice having a baby with Andy would have been a riveting story, especially as John would probably hate her and scheme to get her out of Andy's life.

23 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I know MKA never stayed for long but I do wonder what the story could have been (maybe she was injured but not killed). She is the one who brought the heart to that whole plot.

I imagine Janice never would have gone so far under Marland, even if she would have remained short-term. The line crossing was when she poisoned a pregnant Lily, although Cate was so damn good it was still very entertaining to watch her.

That was my thought: that Neal would not be killed, but simply injured and then eventually leave the canvas. MKA signed with the show specifically because it was a 6-month deal, but her unexpected chemistry with Lucinda/Hubbard was so great that I think Marland would have recognized that the story needed to shift and that the audience HAD to see Lucinda know/accept Neal as her sister while Neal was alive and not after her death. That emotional connection between long-lost sisters was the real center of the entire story, not Royce and the mystery of his multiples.

I still think it's incredible how Douglas Marland and Laurence Caso snagged MKA, Richard Bekins AND Terry Lester for a major storyline that revolved around Elizabeth Hubbard. They knew the story they wanted to tell would be big, so they grabbed the biggest acting guns they could find to help sell it.

13 minutes ago, Khan said:

I still think it's incredible how Douglas Marland and Laurence Caso snagged MKA, Richard Bekins AND Terry Lester for a major storyline that revolved around Elizabeth Hubbard. They knew the story they wanted to tell would be big, so they grabbed the biggest acting guns they could find to help sell it.

Definitely. And Linda Cook is in there too.

I know Richard never did another long term soap stint (I don't know if he was ever even asked) but he would have been a great fit in Marland's era. Seth in some ways is similar to his type of role, although I thought Steve Bassett was fine.

3 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I know Richard never did another long term soap stint [...] but he would have been a great fit in Marland's era.

He would've been a much better replacement for Gregg Marx as Tom than Scott Holmes.

I totally forgot about Linda Cook, lol.

20 minutes ago, Khan said:

He would've been a much better replacement for Gregg Marx as Tom than Scott Holmes.

I totally forgot about Linda Cook, lol.

I would have loved seeing what he would have done with Tom for sure. They might have even been inspired to write his relationship with Lisa as more than just Tom seeing her as a frustrating old dear.