Off topic but who would have made a better Eric Forrester?

Re: John McCook. It's hilarious that Bill Bell was quick to sign him to a contract in 1975 and build him into a big deal, but sat on the fence about signing Tom Selleck. Then in 1980 Magnum PI hits and Selleck hit it big as a heart throb. Bell was kicking himself.

2011 Soaps-in-Depth announcement about the casting of MCE as Chelsea
https://web.archive.org/web/20111010122823/http://cbs.soapsindepth.com/2011/10/yr-casts-another-amc-alum.html

15 hours ago, SoapDope78 said:

I think Peter Browns character is in jeopardy of being killed off the soap and he tries to kill Jennifer.

And then Mr. Brown proceeds to give one of the hammiest "breakdown scenes" in history ("At last! I'm getting the recognition I've long deserved!"), making the moment when a gang of pseudo-Black Panthers relieved him of his member in "Foxy Brown" look like something out of "Death of a Salesman."

Coincidentally, "As the Hart Turns" was co-written by Ronnie Wenker-Konner, who head-wrote THE DOCTORS for a spell with her then-husband, Lawrence.

15 hours ago, DRW50 said:

The role I enjoyed him most in was when he'd pop up on Alice as a cheesy game show host.

My personal fave is when he shows up on "Three's Company" as Cindy's photographer boyfriend who, in so many words, informs her that her skin looks hideous. Of course, with the deeply tinted glasses he wore in his scenes, I'm sure everyone's skin looked like crap.

Let me put it this way: if John McCook had come along about 10 years earlier than he did, he probably would've been a client of Henry Willson's. IYKYK.

15 hours ago, SoapDope78 said:

Re: Hart To Hart. McCook comes across similar to Robert Wagner. They are supposed to be these macho, charismatic, sexy men that women find irresistible, but in reality they are cheesy, bland and boring.

Which also explains Cameron Mathison's career, lol.

9 hours ago, Broderick said:

It's very hard to believe that John McCook has remained employed for almost 40 years in that role, but c'est la vie.

I mean, if I were two steps away from the gutter and hired to write for B&B, I'd probably write the best material that I could for him. Just as I would write the best material that I could for ANY soap performer. (Except for Cameron Mathison. That's when I'd turn the gun on myself).

Edited 7 hours ago7 hr by Khan

7 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Off topic but who would have made a better Eric Forrester?

I'm not saying this is my choice exactly, but he'd have to be LIKE Robert Culp.

He'd have to have been someone who could've gone ten rounds with Susan Flannery and not make her look like his mother. (For years, I thought Eric was Stephanie's much younger husband. Imagine my surprise when I learned that wasn't the case).

I've no earthly idea WHY Bill Bell or John Conboy would've been on the fence about signing Tom Selleck to a contract when it was clear he carried charisma and looked incredible next to Jaime Lyn Bauer. Just as I don't know what made them think Wings Hauser was perfect for Greg, lol.

Edited 7 hours ago7 hr by Khan

8 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Off topic but who would have made a better Eric Forrester?

I don't know a LOT of different soap actors, like some of y'all do. But I was thinking of someone in the mold of a Chris Bernau --a man who could play sophistication, suaveness, and a steely determination in his career, but with a slightly more "formidable" presence than John McCook ever had. Someone who could be Stephanie's equal. It would've completely changed the dynamics of the show if Eric had been less of a spineless patsy.

There actually WAS an actor similar to that on B&B during its first year --- the actor who'd played Neil Fenmore on Y&R. (James Storm?) Whenever I saw a scene between Bill Spencer Senior and Stephanie Forrester, I often wondered how the story would've developed differently if HE had been cast as Eric Forrester.

Someone posted a picture of (a washed-up) Troy Donahue in this thread yesterday. That immediately made me think of TAB HUNTER, who was a decent actor, was only a few years older than Susan Flannery, and still came across as very handsome and sort of boyishly playful in the 1980s, but also understood sophistication (and subterfuge). I expect he would've been happy for a steady job in 1987.

17 minutes ago, Broderick said:

I don't know a LOT of different soap actors, like some of y'all do. But I was thinking of someone in the mold of a Chris Bernau --a man who could play sophistication, suaveness, and a steely determination in his career, but with a slightly more "formidable" presence than John McCook ever had. Someone who could be Stephanie's equal. It would've completely changed the dynamics of the show if Eric had been less of a spineless patsy.

There actually WAS an actor similar to that on B&B during its first year --- the actor who'd played Neil Fenmore on Y&R. (James Storm?) Whenever I saw a scene between Bill Spencer Senior and Stephanie Forrester, I often wondered how the story would've developed differently if HE had been cast as Eric Forrester.

Someone posted a picture of (a washed-up) Troy Donahue in this thread yesterday. That immediately made me think of TAB HUNTER, who was a decent actor, was only a few years older than Susan Flannery, and still came across as very handsome and sort of boyishly playful in the 1980s, but also understood sophistication (and subterfuge). I expect he would've been happy for a steady job in 1987.

I think Bell intended for Eric to be that way hence why McCook was cast as Eric. No one else could have worked for that version of Eric...imho.

And I think Beth #1 could have worked opposite Stephanie, but as my late mom used to say... Beth #1 was blonde, tall, and attractive... no way that Eric would look in Stephanie's direction... but Beth #2.. definitely could have seen that.

In regards to Vanessa, she seemed like a Gothic character and there were a few instances where Bell did infuse the character with a bit of depth. However, the story have run for over five years.. and either Bell needed to reform her or else kill her off because Lorie vs Vanessa had run it's course by 1981

I think the problem Bell and Conboy had with Selleck was his voice. They felt leading men had to have a deep voice to be sexy. Bell said he later kicked himself for letting him slip through his fingers. Re: McCook on B&B. Tom Hallick could have been a possibility as Eric.

It was my understanding that it was Selleck who would not commit to a contract. He had his eye on primetime and didn't want to be out of the loop by being tied to daytime.

Throughout the 70's he was in a heap of pilots before landing Magnum.

13 minutes ago, SoapDope78 said:

I think the problem Bell and Conboy had with Selleck was his voice. They felt leading men had to have a deep voice to be sexy. Bell said he later kicked himself for letting him slip through his fingers. Re: McCook on B&B. Tom Hallick could have been a possibility as Eric.

I think I've read that too.

I can see why they didn't go for him. He is someone who had more strength as he aged. He benefited from just how much his quirks fit Magnum PI. I don't know if it would have worked on a soap.

15 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

It was my understanding that it was Selleck who would not commit to a contract. He had his eye on primetime and didn't want to be out of the loop by being tied to daytime.

Throughout the 70's he was in a heap of pilots before landing Magnum.

I seem to recall Selleck saying he did want a contract, but they would sign him on full time and kept him recurring.

7 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I think I've read that too.

I can see why they didn't go for him. He is someone who had more strength as he aged. He benefited from just how much his quirks fit Magnum PI. I don't know if it would have worked on a soap.

It took years for Selleck to break out. He struggled along in guest appearances and bit parts. He was also a contract player at Universal for a decade. He continued to do commercials right up till he signed on to do Magnum. The 80's really was his decade even though he had the quintessential 1970's look.

16 hours ago, Broderick said:

KT Stevens was from the most unfortunate generation of Hollywood starlets -- girls born before 1920. As we know, roles for actresses from that generation dried-up completely by about 1960. Even the very biggest names of that generation (Joan Crawford and Bette Davis) were reduced to participating in the so-called "Psycho Biddy" or "Hagsploitation" genre, if they wanted to continue working. It became all the rage after 1960 to take an aging pin-up girl/glamour-puss from the Golden Age of Hollywood and cast her as a crazed, mentally unstable crone terrorizing others. And it caused many of those actresses to throw in the towel and retire (or semi-retire).

Bill Bell was guilty of hagsploiting KT Stevens in the role of Vanessa Prentiss, and I believe that was about the last straw for her acting-wise.

Dorothy McGuire was of the same generation (born 1916) and her post-Y&R roles were primetime guest star and made for TV movies. Dorothy acted until 1990 and she passed away in 2001.

16 hours ago, Broderick said:

I got a kick out of y'all's comments about John McCook essentially being a parody of a soap actor. I always thought of him as being a second-rate musical comedy star erroneously elevated to a serious, dramatic actor. I could scarcely believe my eyes when Bill Bell dusted-off his tired ass and cast him as yet another suave, well-dressed, spineless wimp of a leading man in The Bold & the Beautiful.

Hahaha, that's funny.

16 hours ago, Broderick said:

And as we all know, the actress playing Stephanie was a downright fierce performer, and she basically ground Eric and Beth into the dust from Day One, just as Eric Braeden had finished-off Dennis Cole in about five minutes on Y&R. Bill Bell attempted to "rectify" the B&B situation by recasting Beth right off the bat, believing that Beth was the problem. She wasn't. The real problem was that John McCook is a foppish weenie who couldn't hold his own against the Stephanie Forrester actress, and the whole storyline imploded.

Susan Flannery took all the no talents back to acting school. John McCook had to step up his game opposite her.

16 hours ago, Broderick said:

It's very hard to believe that John McCook has remained employed for almost 40 years in that role, but c'est la vie.

Not just that, but John McCook is a Lead Actor Emmy winner. No way would he have won if he was competing in the 1980s against the likes of Larry Bryggman or in the 1990s against the likes of Michael Zaslow.

11 hours ago, SoapDope78 said:

Then in 1980 Magnum PI hits and Selleck hit it big as a heart throb. Bell was kicking himself.

In the 1980s Tom Selleck was the hotness of CBS primetime.

7 hours ago, Khan said:

He'd have to have been someone who could've gone ten rounds with Susan Flannery and not make her look like his mother. (For years, I thought Eric was Stephanie's much younger husband. Imagine my surprise when I learned that wasn't the case).

Susan Flannery is five years older than John McCook. The age difference wasn't that apparent in the Bill Bell years.

6 hours ago, Broderick said:

There actually WAS an actor similar to that on B&B during its first year --- the actor who'd played Neil Fenmore on Y&R. (James Storm?) Whenever I saw a scene between Bill Spencer Senior and Stephanie Forrester, I often wondered how the story would've developed differently if HE had been cast as Eric Forrester.

James Storm was Neil Fenmore and Bill Spencer Senior. I don't think Bill Bell intended for Bill Spencer Senior to be B&B's villain but his initial characterization comes across as a more villainous version of Stuart Brooks. Seeing Stephanie and Bill Senior in scenes together, he was more her equal I thought.