Past characters you once liked, now you're not sure why

[DRW50]

I don't mean this as say, you have been watching AMC for years and you once liked Ryan and now you hate him. I mean when you look back at characters who are gone, and at one time you really loved them, or liked them, and now you can't fathom why.

For instance, when I watch ATWT episodes over again, I still like Julie, but at the time, I really was a huge fan of Julie. She was one of my very favorite characters. Now I'm not entirely sure why that was, especially when the show had such a rich canvas at that time.

I also loved Shannon, I had such great memories of her from when I started watching the show, and I was happy when she returned (that didn't last long). Now I look at her and I still enjoy her, but it's not really the same, and I end up wondering why they brought her back.

It's not that way with everyone -- I still enjoy Lyla, Iva, SB's Craig, MDM's Caleb, etc. as much as I did the first time around. But it's weird to see some of the faces again and feel such a different reaction.

[SFK]

I was of course going to say Ryan before I opened the thread. This is an interesting question and I'm not sure that I have any examples. I do know that I was a passionate fan of Dorian's in the mid-'90s and now I'm kind of blase about her which has everything to do with the writing and RS overcompensating for the lack thereof.

[R Sinclair]

Ellen Dalton (AMC)

It can be attributed to my youth, but I remember when she and Mark left the show, I was inconsolable. Now, it's like, when I see clips on YouTube of Kathleen Noone as Ellen, I keep saying to myself "Kathleen Noone was on this show?! "

[DRW50]

That's really interesting -- I think that when you're young you do sometimes want to follow those staid characters who always seem to be in control. I was the same way with my P&G soaps.

It's tough for me to pick out ABC characters because by the time I started watching them regularly I was already too jaded to change my opinions.

[Pine Charles]

Anton on AMC! I guess I just thought he was hot... and turned a blind eye to his wooden acting.

[Cheap21]

haha, same here.

AMC - Kit Fisher. She seems to be hated by most that remember her but I liked her. Dont know why. Ditto on Camille Hawkins who also was introduced around that time. Neither lasted long or was memorable but I remember liking them

[DRW50]

I liked Kit at first, until the rape story started...which is when we were supposed to go from hating her to liking her. Oh well.

Another would be Steffi on Loving, the first Hart on GL, and, to a degree, Leanna Love on Y&R.

[Mr. Vixen]

Shoot, the only ones I'm thinking of are currently on the shows...Hmmm...

Georgie, on OLTL. I remember LOVING the character. I was really sad about her death. Don't know why I loved her, but I did. I guess I just always like crazy soap characters.

[DRW50]

You knew she would eventually be Bobbie's daughter.

[Mr. Vixen]

Haha! Probably! +1.

[AdelaideCate007]

I remember loving Calliope and Eugene on Days when I was really young, but now when I watch old clips or during some of her returns, I'm not really sure what I thought was so wonderful about them but at the time I just thought they were the best.

I also really liked Tiffany on GH- I don't really remember why exactly and I would get angry when my mother and sister said she was annoying and whiny, but now when I look at old clips, I sort of see it now. I still like her but I'm not sure what exactly it was that made me like her so much, especially when GH, at that time, had so many great characters and was really at a peak in its writing.

[SFK]

And it's interesting how adamant KN became about playing bitches from here on out, she's mentioned that in several interviews. Of course bitches have more fun, but she must have *really* grown tired of Ellen as much as she brings that up. And perhaps she saw the ball that Susan Lucci was having and just insisted upon getting a piece of that action. Her bitches haven't all been glamorous bitches though, and Bette like Felicia Gallant and Sydney Chase, I wouldn't even call a bitch.

[DRW50]

Her Knots character was a big bitch, one of the biggest, at least until the show made a huge mistake by having her murder her own son setting him up to be gunned down by the cops, which destroyed her relationship with her daughter, AKA the only real relationship she had on the show. Then someone said "Oops" and they had her attempt suicide, and her daughter forgave her because she attempted suicide. I could never accept the character after this. It's one of the reasons why KL had huge ratings losses.

AddieCate that's great stuff about DAYS and GH. Very interesting choices and well explained. Do you think the "wacky" characters perhaps were only at home in the 80s?

[SFK]

Yeah, in Waggett's Soap Lists book he says Claudia's name was inspired by Sian Phillips' character Livia in I, Claudius who of course murdered a loved one or two for personal gain herself.

[quartermainefan]

She is like the perfect unrealistic TV dream that you perhaps would tire of in real life, but she would be great if you were a TV character yourself and she was your wife and everyday was something fabulous or wacky. If I were to pick any soap character to marry to live a fantasy life with, it would be Tiffany Hill. I guess if I couldn't choose Tiffany to share a Hart to Hart life with, I would go for Delilah Ralston.