But I thought Ryan's Betsy was insanely popular? I guess you all are debunking that myth. 

She was…her marriage to Steve was the second highest rated wedding only behind Luke and Laura.

Yeah but many of you longterm ATWT are debunking that on this thread. I thought the whole Stewart family was beloved as they were second to the Hughes but again this thread and recent posts say otherwise. 

 

There's no doubting that Meg Ryan was very popular as Betsy. Not immediately (she said that at a fan event the guy who played Steve asked everyone to raise their hands if she was their favorite Betsy, and pretty much no one did, as Suzanne Davidson's Betsy had been very popular with fans), but in time. Even now I've seen people talking about how they loved her. I wasn't watching at the time so my experience is mostly just clips and episodes.

 

As for the Stewarts, I think they were important to viewers, but were marred by poor writing, lack of depth, and many, many recasts. The only Stewart kids who seemed to have something of a following were the Dans (mainly John Reilly), Ryan's Betsy (I preferred Lindsay Frost but I get the feeling many viewers always preferred Ryan) and Jacqueline Schultz's Dee (who was, IMO, very poorly written - Schultz eventually quit for that reason). And then I guess Emily, to a point.

I thought John Colenback (the first adult Dan Stewart) had a pretty strong following, especially during the late 1960's/early 1970's when the Dan/Liz/Paul/Susan saga was in play. I still think it was a mistake to kill off Dan in 1979.

Didn't they kill him off b/c they said they had nowhere else to go with the character? They got all they could out of him?

 

But what do you think they should've/could've done with the character had he stayed?

But I thought Ryan's Betsy was insanely popular? I guess you all are debunking that myth. 

She was…her marriage to Steve was the second highest rated wedding only behind Luke and Laura.

Yeah but many of you longterm ATWT are debunking that on this thread. I thought the whole Stewart family was beloved as they were second to the Hughes but again this thread and recent posts say otherwise. 

 

There's no doubting that Meg Ryan was very popular as Betsy. Not immediately (she said that at a fan event the guy who played Steve asked everyone to raise their hands if she was their favorite Betsy, and pretty much no one did, as Suzanne Davidson's Betsy had been very popular with fans), but in time. Even now I've seen people talking about how they loved her. I wasn't watching at the time so my experience is mostly just clips and episodes.

 

As for the Stewarts, I think they were important to viewers, but were marred by poor writing, lack of depth, and many, many recasts. The only Stewart kids who seemed to have something of a following were the Dans (mainly John Reilly), Ryan's Betsy (I preferred Lindsay Frost but I get the feeling many viewers always preferred Ryan) and Jacqueline Schultz's Dee (who was, IMO, very poorly written - Schultz eventually quit for that reason). And then I guess Emily, to a point.

I thought John Colenback (the first adult Dan Stewart) had a pretty strong following, especially during the late 1960's/early 1970's when the Dan/Liz/Paul/Susan saga was in play. I still think it was a mistake to kill off Dan in 1979.

Didn't they kill him off b/c they said they had nowhere else to go with the character? They got all they could out of him?

 

But what do you think they should've/could've done with the character had he stayed?

I think they killed him off as that was the start of the Fred Bartholeme (producer) get rid of the "old" people thing. I do agree though, what to do with Kim and Dan next? Luckily back in those days they didnt keep breaking super couples up and putting them together like Carjack, Lily and Holden, Josh and Reva...etc.

But I thought Ryan's Betsy was insanely popular? I guess you all are debunking that myth. 

She was…her marriage to Steve was the second highest rated wedding only behind Luke and Laura.

Yeah but many of you longterm ATWT are debunking that on this thread. I thought the whole Stewart family was beloved as they were second to the Hughes but again this thread and recent posts say otherwise. 

 

There's no doubting that Meg Ryan was very popular as Betsy. Not immediately (she said that at a fan event the guy who played Steve asked everyone to raise their hands if she was their favorite Betsy, and pretty much no one did, as Suzanne Davidson's Betsy had been very popular with fans), but in time. Even now I've seen people talking about how they loved her. I wasn't watching at the time so my experience is mostly just clips and episodes.

 

As for the Stewarts, I think they were important to viewers, but were marred by poor writing, lack of depth, and many, many recasts. The only Stewart kids who seemed to have something of a following were the Dans (mainly John Reilly), Ryan's Betsy (I preferred Lindsay Frost but I get the feeling many viewers always preferred Ryan) and Jacqueline Schultz's Dee (who was, IMO, very poorly written - Schultz eventually quit for that reason). And then I guess Emily, to a point.

I thought John Colenback (the first adult Dan Stewart) had a pretty strong following, especially during the late 1960's/early 1970's when the Dan/Liz/Paul/Susan saga was in play. I still think it was a mistake to kill off Dan in 1979.

Didn't they kill him off b/c they said they had nowhere else to go with the character? They got all they could out of him?

 

But what do you think they should've/could've done with the character had he stayed?

I think they killed him off as that was the start of the Fred Bartholeme (producer) get rid of the "old" people thing. I do agree though, what to do with Kim and Dan next? Luckily back in those days they didnt keep breaking super couples up and putting them together like Carjack, Lily and Holden, Josh and Reva...etc.

Back then, they seemed like they had no issue with killing someone off with the quickness, which is something the remaining four might need to redo.

They should have just had Dan leave town with Susan.

 

I almost mentioned Colenback but I wasn't sure how popular he actually was.

They should have just had Dan leave town with Susan.

 

I almost mentioned Colenback but I wasn't sure how popular he actually was.

That's reasonable. 

 

And then you think he should've been brought back down the road?

I think he would have given Susan and Emily some story when they returned to Oakdale. He could have just popped in and out, the way Russ Matthews did on AW before the show started pretending Russ never existed.

I think he would have given Susan and Emily some story when they returned to Oakdale. He could have just popped in and out, the way Russ Matthews did on AW before the show started pretending Russ never existed.

True. 

 

Weren't Bob and Dan best friends? I would've loved to have seen Dan come back for a stint and try and win Kim away from Bob. It would've been interesting to see how Nancy, Ellen, John, etc. would've reacted to it.

Yes. That would have been a good story when Kim and Bob were split up via the Susan affair.

Yes. That would have been a good story when Kim and Bob were split up via the Susan affair.

If only my Bob and Kim were eventually reunited!!

John Colenback was popular in his first stint  as Dan,but it was John Reilly that established the Kim/Dan relationship and I don't think Colenback worked as well as Reilly with Kathryn Hays.

Still, killing off Dan was a mistake.Maybe he could have been ill and left Oakdale,not wanting to be a burden etc

The other root problem was sorasing Dan in the first place.When Colenback came on in 66,Dan should have been 8,but Irna made him early 20's and Colenback was older than the character. That led to problems down the road.

But I thought Ryan's Betsy was insanely popular? I guess you all are debunking that myth. 

She was…her marriage to Steve was the second highest rated wedding only behind Luke and Laura.

Yeah but many of you longterm ATWT are debunking that on this thread. I thought the whole Stewart family was beloved as they were second to the Hughes but again this thread and recent posts say otherwise. 

 

There's no doubting that Meg Ryan was very popular as Betsy. Not immediately (she said that at a fan event the guy who played Steve asked everyone to raise their hands if she was their favorite Betsy, and pretty much no one did, as Suzanne Davidson's Betsy had been very popular with fans), but in time. Even now I've seen people talking about how they loved her. I wasn't watching at the time so my experience is mostly just clips and episodes.

 

As for the Stewarts, I think they were important to viewers, but were marred by poor writing, lack of depth, and many, many recasts. The only Stewart kids who seemed to have something of a following were the Dans (mainly John Reilly), Ryan's Betsy (I preferred Lindsay Frost but I get the feeling many viewers always preferred Ryan) and Jacqueline Schultz's Dee (who was, IMO, very poorly written - Schultz eventually quit for that reason). And then I guess Emily, to a point.

I thought John Colenback (the first adult Dan Stewart) had a pretty strong following, especially during the late 1960's/early 1970's when the Dan/Liz/Paul/Susan saga was in play. I still think it was a mistake to kill off Dan in 1979.

Didn't they kill him off b/c they said they had nowhere else to go with the character? They got all they could out of him?

 

But what do you think they should've/could've done with the character had he stayed?

Good question, and it ties in to what Paul stated above.  Paul is right - Colenback's Dan didn't really have the same chemistry with Hayes that Reilly did.  With that said, I would have started a Bob/Kim/Dan triangle immediately after Betsy found out that Dan was her dad instead of her uncle.  Bob could have been her doctor during that deafness Betsy had (I think it was deafness), and Betsy could have bonded with Bob in a fatherly way (since she would have trust issues with Dan). Bob and Kim are drawn to each other again, creating conflict between Bob and Dan.  Heck, I would have brought back Susan and Emily to make things even worse for Dan's situation.  If they needed to get rid of Dan, they could always have Dan leave town healthy, and perhaps bring him back later if necessary.  They always kept Kim and Bob apart during this time, and I hated Dana and Nick.

But, the SORAS-ing of Dan was always an issue back when Irna first did it in 1966.  Its shifted the structure of the canvas quite a bit. Dan was supposed to be more of a peer to Tom Hughes, but instead was now a peer to Bob (instead of David being Bob's peer), Ellen was now a peer to Nancy, etc.

Colenback and Marie Masters:

 

Marie was gorgeous then and stayed beautiful in all the years that followed.

Like the idea of Kim/Dan/Bob in the late 70's with Susan and John involved also.

But I thought Ryan's Betsy was insanely popular? I guess you all are debunking that myth. 

She was…her marriage to Steve was the second highest rated wedding only behind Luke and Laura.

Yeah but many of you longterm ATWT are debunking that on this thread. I thought the whole Stewart family was beloved as they were second to the Hughes but again this thread and recent posts say otherwise. 

 

There's no doubting that Meg Ryan was very popular as Betsy. Not immediately (she said that at a fan event the guy who played Steve asked everyone to raise their hands if she was their favorite Betsy, and pretty much no one did, as Suzanne Davidson's Betsy had been very popular with fans), but in time. Even now I've seen people talking about how they loved her. I wasn't watching at the time so my experience is mostly just clips and episodes.

 

As for the Stewarts, I think they were important to viewers, but were marred by poor writing, lack of depth, and many, many recasts. The only Stewart kids who seemed to have something of a following were the Dans (mainly John Reilly), Ryan's Betsy (I preferred Lindsay Frost but I get the feeling many viewers always preferred Ryan) and Jacqueline Schultz's Dee (who was, IMO, very poorly written - Schultz eventually quit for that reason). And then I guess Emily, to a point.

I thought John Colenback (the first adult Dan Stewart) had a pretty strong following, especially during the late 1960's/early 1970's when the Dan/Liz/Paul/Susan saga was in play. I still think it was a mistake to kill off Dan in 1979.

Didn't they kill him off b/c they said they had nowhere else to go with the character? They got all they could out of him?

 

But what do you think they should've/could've done with the character had he stayed?

Good question, and it ties in to what Paul stated above.  Paul is right - Colenback's Dan didn't really have the same chemistry with Hayes that Reilly did.  With that said, I would have started a Bob/Kim/Dan triangle immediately after Betsy found out that Dan was her dad instead of her uncle.  Bob could have been her doctor during that deafness Betsy had (I think it was deafness), and Betsy could have bonded with Bob in a fatherly way (since she would have trust issues with Dan). Bob and Kim are drawn to each other again, creating conflict between Bob and Dan.  Heck, I would have brought back Susan and Emily to make things even worse for Dan's situation.  If they needed to get rid of Dan, they could always have Dan leave town healthy, and perhaps bring him back later if necessary.  They always kept Kim and Bob apart during this time, and I hated Dana and Nick.

But, the SORAS-ing of Dan was always an issue back when Irna first did it in 1966.  Its shifted the structure of the canvas quite a bit. Dan was supposed to be more of a peer to Tom Hughes, but instead was now a peer to Bob (instead of David being Bob's peer), Ellen was now a peer to Nancy, etc.

Good point, the death of Dan really could have fixed that...as at that time Ellen and David had age appropriate daughters (sort of). At least they let Ellen out of her bun when David came back to town with amnesia but by that time Nancy was gone and Chris was sidelined, and they should have played heavily in that as parent figures to David and Ellen.

I agree that there should have been a Bob/Kim/Dan triangle. I also wish they had done a storyline where Lisa went after David and had catfights with Ellen.