I only know Hunt Block from his AMC character--and don't even remember that well--wasn't he a secretly bad stable guy or something? But I've always found him a bit overated.

*edit* totally forgot he was on OLTL lol

Edited September 14, 201114 yr by EricMontreal22

I don't agree that Block played both roles the same way. I thought he showed more range and yes, even vulnerability, when he played Ben. I remember some tenderness in moments like when he found out Drew was his daughter.

All he did as Craig was squint and lick his lips. His attempts at anything beyond that were a laughingstock.

I just figured the final break with Sierra had ruined Craig.

That was more explanation than Sheffer ever bothered to provide. His leading men are dead-eyed sociopaths just because he thinks its hot. They are the same character on every show he writes.

The character of Craig became a curse on the show during its last decade really, and they had tied too much into the way Block portrayed him. Meek was terrible and creepy, Bryce was great but had to deliver Hunt Block lines, and well Lindstrom just fell in somewhere in between, never doing worse than Meek but never rising above the mediocrity either. I wondered why they never actually tried to bring back Block as Craig if they were going to keep writing Craig that way.

That was more explanation than Sheffer ever bothered to provide. His leading men are dead-eyed sociopaths just because he thinks its hot. They are the same character on every show he writes.

...also, because that's who he thinks his inner-Jaba really is. Honestly, the man is large. Or was anyway. .......

Block's Craig, imo, was one-note.

On OLTL, Terri Conn, Howarth and the actress who plays Nora (forgot name) never shift into/out of character. At first, I thought it was JPs writing but now realize that these actors are all limited in range.

Hillary B. Smith is not "limited." Thank you.

I don't agree that Block played both roles the same way. I thought he showed more range and yes, even vulnerability, when he played Ben. I remember some tenderness in moments like when he found out Drew was his daughter.

All he did as Craig was squint and lick his lips. His attempts at anything beyond that were a laughingstock.

That was more explanation than Sheffer ever bothered to provide. His leading men are dead-eyed sociopaths just because he thinks its hot. They are the same character on every show he writes.

I don't mind sociopaths on soaps provided they carry a little baggage, trauma, like Y&Rs Kay and Victor or ATWTs Lucinda or Lisa. I will never buy that Lucinda was any better than Craig; it was that her background helped put the character into proper context and, also, her toxic love of Lilly often softened the blow. Sheffer stripped away the fluff and nuances presenting a more radicalized as well as isolated villian or 'anti-hero'. Bell and Marland had some pretty evil characters but thier crimes got washed away by sentimentalized attachments and minor slaps on the wrist. In a way, Hogan is less forgiving of evil because nobody really loved Craig. His punishment was going through life unloved and knowing it.

I like to see justice on soaps but that will never happen as long as there are fan bases.

Hillary B. Smith is not "limited." Thank you.

Nora and Margo are the same character. She may be a good actor but there is little to no difference between the two roles.

Sheffer stripped away the fluff and nuances presenting a more radicalized as well as isolated villian or 'anti-hero'

In other words, he can't write.

Block was not only an iceberg, but a soulless ogre. Frankly, I don't think he was a good actor. I had watched him on GL, and it was the exact same character in better suits and a butch haircut. I have no doubt the favorable reactions to the Bryant death scenes had more to do with the aftermath of 9/11 than what was actually on-screen. Thank God it wore off before the Emmy idiots handed him a statue. We'd never have been rid of him.

Don't forget his constant lip smacking.

HAAAAAAAAAAAATE.

. In a way, Hogan is less forgiving of evil because nobody really loved Craig. His punishment was going through life unloved and knowing it.

I like to see justice on soaps but that will never happen as long as there are fan bases.

Craig wasn't loved? Please...all of Craig's evilness was written off with an exasperated sigh from his sisters, some slap and tickle from his latest victim/conquest and the loving arms of his children. Rosanna forgave him for running her off the bleepin' road, FCOL. They brought back the last Lucy just so she could beg his forgiveness and beg for his love. He got a new son and custody of his other one.

Craig was loved. He certainly wasn't liked by those who knew him best, but even that asshat knew he was loved in spite of everything he ever did.

Don't forget his constant lip smacking.

HAAAAAAAAAAAATE.

And obsession with food period. At one point, he couldn't do a scene without stuffing something in his face.

In other words, he can't write.

Or maybe it is a more honest, less indulgent and romanticized depiction. Soaps far too often aim at making the viewer forgive the sociopath and that is the worst life lesson. I don't think Hogan had sympathy for Craig or wanted to viewer to feel pity. I think the whole 'men who have balls' or whatever comment got blown out of context. Craig was evil and the entire town avoided him except when they needed something or were blackmailed. Roseanna only married him to spite Paul and she knew he was a black hole of nothingness.

Or maybe it is a more honest, less indulgent and romanticized depiction. Soaps far too often aim at making the viewer forgive the sociopath and that is the worst life lesson. I don't think Hogan had sympathy for Craig or wanted to viewer to feel pity. I think the whole 'men who have balls' or whatever comment got blown out of context. Craig was evil and the entire town avoided him except when they needed something or were blackmailed. Roseanna only married him to spite Paul and she knew he was a black hole of nothingness.

I think Hogan had all kinds of sympathy for Craig. I think he saw Craig as the world's honest, truest, noblest man, and that it was some great feat that Craig was so vile and nasty to everyone - that this made him a real man. If Hogan had any ability to be honest he would not have clumsily destroyed everyone around Craig in order to make him look better.

Craig wasn't loved? Please...all of Craig's evilness was written off with an exasperated sigh from his sisters, some slap and tickle from his latest victim/conquest and the loving arms of his children. Rosanna forgave him for running her off the bleepin' road, FCOL. They brought back the last Lucy just so she could beg his forgiveness and beg for his love. He got a new son and custody of his other one.

Craig was loved. He certainly wasn't liked by those who knew him best, but even that asshat knew he was loved in spite of everything he ever did.

Rosebud only took him back after Hogan was long gone. As for Margo and Katie, they were his sisters.

In general, Craig was no worse than any other soap villian aside from the fact that the writers had less sympathy. Lucinda was pure evil and Lilly should have run as a teen. On Y&R, Victor was vile long before Hogan and it was sick to watch Nikki and Ash fight over him. The same is true of GH manic panic Sonny. The entire genre relies on sociopaths to move story.

Craig was loved and taken to the bosom of every woman in hopes she could "save" him. Rosanna certainly married Craig the first time because she loved him. The second time it was actually to right the grievous wrong Jennifer had done to him by trying to frame him and get sole custody of her baby.

I think Hogan had all kinds of sympathy for Craig. I think he saw Craig as the world's honest, truest, noblest man, and that it was some great feat that Craig was so vile and nasty to everyone - that this made him a real man. If Hogan had any ability to be honest he would not have clumsily destroyed everyone around Craig in order to make him look better.

Writers like Bill Bell and Marland would punish and then redeem villians only to have them go sociopathic all over again two weeks later. Hogan, outside of Bryant's death, never gave Craig a conscious and was more honest about the character's selfishness. Craig was a by any means type and didn't hide behind the illusion of love. Also, ATWT did suffer from a lack of balls in the late 1990s in that the soap lacked a strong male lead for many years. Block was not the solution but Hogan did identify that the soap lacked balance.