I need a little help here. I was in a discussion elsewhere about a current soap couple and a non-fan spouted the argument that the couple cannot stand on their own -- that they have to be propped by other characters or couples to sustain a story. I always find this argument kind of silly because of course no pairing, no matter how popular or fabulous, can have a story that is only about the two of them. Stories generally cannot be told about two characters in isolation. And also triangles by virtue of the construction necessitates that in the end, a couple will emerge and one leg of the triangle will lose. So I never really get the difference between "propping" and just telling a story. I mean if a serial killer comes to town and targets one of the heroines who of course then must be rescued by the hero, is she being propped or are they just telling a story?

Anyway, I have been thinking about this and came to the conclusion that probably every popular/successful character or pairing has left a few bodies buried in their wake. I haven't watched a lot of soaps faithfully, but I still hear about fan wars surrounding particular pairings and wanted to see if some of the posters here could tell me of any characters that were "sacrificed" for those couples.

I'll start (even though I'm one of those people that when I story ends, I pretty much forget about it so I'm not very good at my own question).

GL

Josh/Reva: Sonny. I think she went mad eventually so that Josh and Reva could reunite.

Phillip/Harley: Beth kind of was thrown under the bus and went a little crazy in her quest to win Phillip back and it got worse when Phillip chose Harley over her. She brought an abuser into her daughter's life and exposed her to very unsafe conditions and ultimately her child murdered the abuser. That's just one of many horrible things Beth did. At the time I didn't think it was propping Pharley, and it was just "drama" to give Beth a story. But ultimately it did damage her character IMO and Beth fans were outraged.

AMC

Zendall: Aiden is the one that comes to mind. I haven't watched AMC in years, but I recall friends of mine who do watch lamenting the destruction of Aiden's character to prop Zendall. Didn't he and Kendall sleep together while Zack and Greenlee were missing? Wasn't that the beginning of the end for the character?

Here are some other popular couples that you may love or hate. Can you think of any sacrificial lambs that were destroyed to "prop" them?

GH: Jason and Sam, Lucky and Liz, LuLu and Dante (all I can think of since I don't watch the show).

AMC: Tad and Dixie, Ryan and Greenlee, (Please add more if you think of them)

OLTL: Todd and Blair, Todd and Tea, Bo and Nora, Clint and Viki, Tina and Cord

Days: Sami and ???, John and Marlena, Bo and Hope.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Can I list a character who has been propped to death JASON MORGAN

The entire Quartermaine family was exterminated to prop that pointless boring piece of nothingness

Phillip/Harley: Beth kind of was thrown under the bus and went a little crazy in her quest to win Phillip back and it got worse when Phillip chose Harley over her. She brought an abuser into her daughter's life and exposed her to very unsafe conditions and ultimately her child murdered the abuser. That's just one of many horrible things Beth did. At the time I didn't think it was propping Pharley, and it was just "drama" to give Beth a story. But ultimately it did damage her character IMO and Beth fans were outraged.

Uh, I would diasgree with this right here. Beth and Phillip have had their turns at going a little crazy when the other found a new love interest. Phillip was obsessed with beth when she chose Lujack over him, but Phillip and Beth still had their moents. Phillip may have chosen Harley over Beth but he really didnt imo, he even called Beth his wife right in front og Harley who was his fiance at the time. If anything Harley was the sacrificed lamb for Beth/Phillip!

Oh...and remember when they trashed Nina to prop Ryan and Vicki on Y&R?

Y&R never really trashed Nina for Ryan/Victoria (since Victoria & Nina were fairly evenly matched).

As Carl said Nina went under the bus (to an extent) for Ryan/Tricia.

OLTL - Sky was completely and totally destroyed because the show realized how many had grown to despise Rex and Rex/Gigi.

.

Ooops. I was thinking Rex and Gigi weren't even on the show when Sky(e) was on. How quickly we forget.

"Propping" to me means someone gets trashed to facillitate another story. Like most terms, it's become overused to the point of ridiculousness (and I admit, at times I've used it to extremes, everyone does). Now people simply use it when a character everyone knows is an also ran gets thrown into a triangle

I guess anytime there's a quick, nonsensical shift in someone's character, the P-word starts flying.

It does, but it seems the more passionate the support or opposition is to the pairing, the quicker the online community is to whip out the "props". If you like the couple -- it's worth it.

Uh, I would diasgree with this right here. Beth and Phillip have had their turns at going a little crazy when the other found a new love interest. Phillip was obsessed with beth when she chose Lujack over him, but Phillip and Beth still had their moents. Phillip may have chosen Harley over Beth but he really didnt imo, he even called Beth his wife right in front og Harley who was his fiance at the time. If anything Harley was the sacrificed lamb for Beth/Phillip!

And to me this kind of defines the difference between propping and storytelling. That triangle had three strong POVs all well represented and allowed the audience to come to different conclusions about who (if anyone) was being propped. Perhaps it's only on the internet that the concept of propping really exists. Where we look at the storytelling strategies and who is supposed to be the "root for" pairing and analyze everything to death. And it seems more pronounced if a pairing is polarizing.

Am I mis-remembering Nina with a gun to her head, a quivering mess at the thought of losing Ryan to his teenage sex toy?

Am I mis-remembering Nina with a gun to her head, a quivering mess at the thought of losing Ryan to his teenage sex toy?

No. I hated the story, although I guess compared to Y&R today it was Gloria Steinem, since Nina at least got help and moved on with her life.

Uh, I would diasgree with this right here. Beth and Phillip have had their turns at going a little crazy when the other found a new love interest. Phillip was obsessed with beth when she chose Lujack over him, but Phillip and Beth still had their moents. Phillip may have chosen Harley over Beth but he really didnt imo, he even called Beth his wife right in front og Harley who was his fiance at the time. If anything Harley was the sacrificed lamb for Beth/Phillip!

Even though I loved Phillip & Harley in the late 90's, they definitely did the character of Beth no favors from the time of her late 1997 return til 2000. I stopped watching in late 2000, so I don't quite know how they finally split up PHarley for good, I just know that Beth eventually became Princess of San Cristobel and nearly died thanks to Edmund.

The fact that Soap Opera Digest nominated Beth Chamberlin (Beth) in the Best Villainess category at the 1999 SOD Awards shows how far off course they got with the character (although I think they would've nominated Wendy Moniz instead had she not just announced her departure, but that's moot)

Am I mis-remembering Nina with a gun to her head, a quivering mess at the thought of losing Ryan to his teenage sex toy?

Nope.

That was a GREAT story

I'd actually have to disagree about Nina being thrown under the bus for Ryan/Tricia. Sure Nina shooting herself was over the top but did a Ryan/Tricia pairing actually have fans? Nina survived and came out stronger as a successful independent woman. Ryan got swept up in Dennison family drama, lost touch with his once adopted son and ended up dead.

Now characters like Bobby Marsino, Hope and Paul being pushed out of the way for Victor/Nikki? That's simply quite wrong.

Probably the worst propping done for me was on ATWT when Jack and Katie were paired up while Carly was on the run and then she came back to town. They really trashed Carly's character with that storyline.

Josh and Annie were boring in 1995 and I think they were trying for Rick and Annie when they gave Annie that history which was a few months before Reva showed up in Springfield.

Nicole on Days has been frequently the sacrificial lamb over the years most notably for Brady/Chloe.

I hated the story

Why?

Now characters like Bobby Marsino, Hope and Paul being pushed out of the way for Victor/Nikki? That's simply quite wrong.

Don't forget Jack, Diane, Josh & Ashley.

Why?

I didn't like the history rewrite regarding Cole/Nina, and I'd never liked Ryan, so that just amplified it. At the time I was also very wary that Nina was going to be written out of the show. Once that didn't happen, I was more OK with the story, since they had the characters move on with their lives.

but if anyone on GH was ever propped it would have to be Emily and Nik, who managed to kill an army of interlopers in short order.

Lydia

Summer

Zander

Stefan

Connor

Mary

Who else was killed over them?

Edited October 19, 201114 yr by Cheap21

I'm not sure if Hope or Paul were sacrificial lambs for Victor/Nikki. We barely ever saw Paul most of the time after he was with Nikki. The show kept throwing Victor at various other women, for story purposes, like Diane. Hope just seemed to fade away due to lack of interest.

Probably one of the more blatant was Janice Frame on AW, who over the course of a year lost her mind over Mac and finally went on a poisoning and knifing spree. This packed more of a punch than the long list of people ruined for Nik/Emily, because you actually cared about everyone involved.

NO it was about undoing the unabortion, period, end of sentence, which you just reitarated in your next post. He was basically forgotten after that.

And if we keep telling ourselves this, it becomes true!