I know this might be kind of a dumb idea for a post, but I've always wondered which soap holds the record for it. I'd imagine most of the possible records were probably in the late '80s-early '90s, when casts were really bloated. I know that at one point in mid '95, AMC had 38 contract cast members. I think GL in the '90s may have had more than this, but I'm not entirely sure.

Y&R right now?

This is the highest I've seen in the last six or so years

AMC had 35 contract players in this opening (36 characters with Adam/Stuart)

Edited October 7, 201114 yr by alexisfan07

This is the highest I've seen in the last six or so years

AMC had 35 contract players in this opening (36 characters with Adam/Stuart)

And only about a third of them got story. Damn shame.

I was just going to say! And of course a year or two after that the cast reallys tarted to feel tiny (and I guess a lot of roles were cut). I forgot some of those characters--talenst like Bobby Seggert (who's becoming a huge theatre name) wasted as Sam...

How big was the cast at AW when it was 90 minutes? I remember reading it was kinda unwieldy.

Never realized but PGP really did try at saving GL in the 1990's and the big cast must have been an effort at seeing if any new characters took hold.

I would quess that Y&R must have had a large cast when it changed to a hour and Bell created the new familes and phased out the old crew. I still respect how he managed to pull it off.

I'm not sure if Y&R had that large of a cast during the transition. There was a very limited group during the half-hour run.

I would think ATWT of the Marland era had a large contract cast, but then I realized a lot of the people may have been recurring or on short-term deals.

I was just going to say! And of course a year or two after that the cast reallys tarted to feel tiny (and I guess a lot of roles were cut). I forgot some of those characters--talenst like Bobby Seggert (who's becoming a huge theatre name) wasted as Sam...

How big was the cast at AW when it was 90 minutes? I remember reading it was kinda unwieldy.

Very good question. I remember in I think it was Soap Opera Weekly used to run the cast list to the shows once in awhile and I remember GL/ATWT, and sometimes GH and AMC having larger casts then the rest of the shows

I read in the late 80's that ATWT had the largest contract cast..

In the late 80's, AMC at one point had 42 contract players listed in the end credits (in the first alphabetical list).

The 1979-80 cast of the 90 minute Another World probably had the most contract cast members:

Richard Backus as Ted Bancroft

David Bailey as Russ Matthews

Laurie Bartram as Karen Campbell

Richard Bekins as Jamie Frame

Bradley Bliss as Kit Halloway

Carla Borelli as Reena Bellman Cook

Gail Brown as Clarice Ewing

Danielle Burns as Nancy McGowan

Warren Burton as Jason Dunlap

J. Kenneth Campbell as Jordan Scott

Nicole Catalanotto as Amanda Cory

Judy Cassmore as Margo Grove

Charles Cioffi as Kirk Laverty

Eric Conger as Buzz Winslow

Kevin Conroy as Jerry Grove

Nicholas Coster as Robert Delaney

Geraldine Court as June Laverty

Tony Cummings as Rick Halloway

Irene Dailey as Liz Matthews

Leora Dana as Sylvie Kosloff

Curt Dawson as Zachary Colton

Vicky Dawson as Eileen Simpson Perrini

William Grey Espy as Mitch Blake

Constance Ford as Ada Hobson

Robert Gentry as Philip Lyons

Dan Hamilton as Jeff Stone

Ron Harper as Taylor Halloway

Trish Hawkins as Mimi Haines Frame

Barton Heyman as Fred Ewing

Joseph Hindy as Burt McGowan

Deborah Hobart as Amy Dudley

Lionel Johnston as Michael Randolph

Christine Jones as Janice Frame

Stephen Joyce as Paul Connelly

Christopher Knight as Leigh Hobson

Dorothy Lyman as Gwen Frame

Janice Lynde as Tracy DeWitt

Susan Keith as Cecile dePoulignac

Maeve Kinkead as Angie Perrini

Ray Liotta as Joey Perrini

Matthew Maienczyk as Matthew Cory

Laura Malone as Blaine Ewing

Hugh Marlowe as Jim Matthews

Judith McConnell as Miranda Bishop

Beverlee McKinsey as Iris Cory Bancroft

Anne Meacham as Louise Goddard

Lynn Milgrim as Susan Matthews Shearer

Vera Moore as Linda Metcalf

Jay Morran as Vince Frame

Brian Murray as Dan Shearer

Gretchen Oehler as Vivien Gorrow

Lee Patterson as Kevin Cook

Beverly Penberthy as Pat Randolph

Wesley Ann Pfenning as Alice Frame

Julie Philips as Sally Frame

Christina Pickles as Elena dePoulignac

Richard Porter as Larry Ewing

Jim Poyner as Dennis Wheeler

Carmine Rizzo as Cory Ewing

Leon Russom as Willis Frame

Michael M. Ryan as John Randolph

Fred J. Scollay as Charlie Hobson

Tina Sloan as Olivia Delaney

Paul Stevens as Brian Bancroft

John Tillinger as Leonard Brooks

Paul Tulley as Scott Bradley

Adrienne Wallace as Marianne Randolph

Douglass Watson as Mac Cory

Kathleen Widdoes as Rose Perrini

Victoria Wyndham as Rachel Davis Cory

I'm not sure how many of those were on at the same time (I think Ted, the Lavertys, and Sylvie were gone by the time the Holloways arrived; Alice, Brooks, Rose, Miranda, Taylor, Louise, Kevin were gone by the time Leigh Hobson showed up).

These had to have been the two years that Y&R's contract cast was the most bloated.

1995

1997

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2Nu01FzhLY

No wonder people like Jerry, Jeanne, even Jess were struggling for story (or so we think) I don't even know why half of those people in the 1997 cast list were even put on contract.

Edited October 9, 201114 yr by yr9190

AMC has 37 regular cast members listed in the closing credits of Tom and Erica's wedding from 1978. There's no clear distinction between who was on contract and who was just recurring, though. You'd assume that there would be some sort of separation, but you have people like Ruth, Charles, and Nancy way at the end, after kids like Tad and Charlie:

Frances Heflin as Mona Kane

Susan Lucci as Erica Kane

Nick Benedict as Philip Brent

Chris Wallace as Mel Jacobi

Ray MacDonnell as Dr. Joe Martin

Richard Van Vleet as Chuck Tyler

Nancy Frangione as Tara Martin Brent

Candice Earley as Donna Tyler

Patricia Dixon as Caroline Murray Grant

Daren Kelly as Dan Kennicott

John Danelle as Dr. Franklin Grant

Richard Shoberg as Tom Cudahy

Jack Magee as Wally McFadden

William Griffis as Harlan Tucker

Kathleen Noone as Ellen Shepherd

Mark La Mura as Mark Dalton

William Mooney as Paul Martin

Ruth Warrick as Phoebe Tyler

Peter White as Lincoln Tyler

Francesca James as Kelly Cole

Eileen Herlie as Myrtle Lum Fargate

Susan Plantt-Winston as Claudette Montgomery

Sandy Gabriel as Edna Thornton

Larry Fleischman as Benny Sago

James O'Sullivan as Jeff Martin

Robin Strasser as Christina Karras

Warren Burton as Eddie Dorrance

Tricia Pursley as Devon Shepherd

John E. Dunn as Tad Martin

Kay Campbell as Kate Martin

Julia Barr as Brooke English

Kathleen Dezina as Estelle

Matthew Cowles as Billy Clyde

Mary Fickett as Ruth Martin

Hugh Franklin as Dr. Charles Tyler

Brian Lima as Charlie Tyler

Lisa Wilkinson as Nancy Blair

These had to have been the two years that Y&R's contract cast was the most bloated.

1995

1997

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2Nu01FzhLY

No wonder people like Jerry, Jeanne, even Jess were struggling for story (or so we think) I don't even know why half of those people in the 1997 cast list were even put on contract.

Your videos really make me miss soap closings. I always wanted to hear the long Y&R closing when I was a kid. It brings back memories!

Edited October 9, 201114 yr by dsvd79