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.

Y&R's Diane constantly went under the bus. Andy/Faren, Victor/Nikki, Jack/Giggly.

Carjack thrown under the bus? LOL. Might as well change Carly's name to Miss Frizzle because she was DRIVING the bus.

She was repeatedly trashed for Goutman's pets Katie and Janet. She also had to sit around being a mug for godawful Hunt Block and Annie Parisse for an eternity.

Carly drove the bus, drove it 100mph, and didn't bother to signal when she changed lanes. Doesn't mean she wasn't run over to solidify "good" people or redeem asswipes like Craig, Simon and Holden.

Erica and Jackson...

Just about every other man, but David and Dimitri to some degree was that couple's whipping boy. And it was all for nothing; seeing as that was one of the most toxic relationships on the show, IMO.

Erica and Jackson...

Just about every other man, but David and Dimitri to some degree was that couple's whipping boy. And it was all for nothing; seeing as that was one of the most toxic relationships on the show, IMO.

I don't know . Out of all the characters mentioned, Jackson is the one that was constantly shoved aside & trashed for Erica's new power couple pairing of the month.

I don't know . Out of all the characters mentioned, Jackson is the one that was constantly shoved aside & trashed for Erica's new power couple pairing of the month.

+1 This is so very true

IA on the ATWT Julia at the altar of CarJack. I hated what the show did to her

Did anyone mention Annie with Rylee? That one was pretty awful. The show did Annie dirty, taking her through the ringer to show us how these two were soulmates and Annie deserved to suffer for having the nerve to be in their way

I don't know . Out of all the characters mentioned, Jackson is the one that was constantly shoved aside & trashed for Erica's new power couple pairing of the month.

and ultimatey Jack tended to always win out. The other men were temporary roadblocks to Jack/Erica who barely had a chance

Edited October 20, 201114 yr by Cheap21

Jack always maintained his integrity as a character. Erica did him wrong, and he walked away. I don't think he was ever sacrificed the way that, say, Dimitri was when they broke Dimitri/Erica up.

Carjack thrown under the bus? LOL. Might as well change Carly's name to Miss Frizzle because she was DRIVING the bus.

Thank you, CarJack was NEVER thrown under the bus for any character imo. Carly's crazy stunts were all in character (cept leaving her kids TWICE, but that had nothing to do with another woman)/ Gont remember his wedding to Katie, but his other weddings to Julia/Janet were horrid as Jack had the sad sack face staring at Carly instead of his Bride LOL>

Julia had stopped taking pills after she broke up with Jack and grew stronher, and was living her life; I enjoyed her and Jake and their witty banter, then HS (who supposedly hated CarJack) stepped in and yotally trashed the character at the alter of CarJack!

Julia doesn't even "snap" until R/avid blackmails her. Julia wasn't as much "sacrificed at Carjack's altar" as written out because Parisse wanted to go Hollywood.

For most of the time Julia was nuts, the show was pushing Craig/Carly. Jack was such a loser to the show that we were supposed to laugh as he was raped.

I never saw it as the show trashing Carly at all, because (for me, at least) it was always very clear from the very beginning that Carly/Jack would be the result of the triangle. The show was so repetitive and unoriginal story-wise that as soon as another woman came into the story, it was obvious how the story would play out. Another "Gotta get Jackkkk backkkkk!!!!" story where Carly makes a fool out of herself. In a way, I guess, Carly was indeed trashed, but IMO, she was trashed for her own pairing. The fact that they always got back together wasn't a testament to their love as much as it was a testament to how lazy the writers were. IF the show had lived, they would have probably reconciled and broken up again by now.

^^^^LOL....probably. TIIC probably would have revealed Carly tampered with little Ciccone-Donovan brat's DNA test, and Jack really was the father.

"Propping" to me means someone gets trashed to facillitate another story.

I've always had big problems with the propping discussions because a lot of the times it feels like the audience is just injecting their feelings into the way a storyline is being told. Character A would never do this, so that must mean the writers are trying to manipulate me into liking Character B. Wait. What? I actually think if you understand the circumstances a lot of the time you can find a motivation as to why a character may be acting differently. Not to mention that not all storylines are going to be popular, not every writer is out for "favorites" and you have to remember again that this is a medium of television they need to tell a story. Several ones daily. If the show is mostly plot driven then that's not a fault of the character ("propper" or "propee") and thus it makes no sense to hate one character for all that is wrong with a show. That's the fault of the writer not knowing how to write character driven stories which ends up tearing down all the characters in the show in their plots just to have something happen on the show.

Like most terms, it's become overused to the point of ridiculousness

I agree. It's synonymous at this point to "my favorite character isn't in the story I want them to be in" or "my favorite character isn't doing what I want them to." It's not even about if that character has a reason or would believably do something that is causing the resulted fanwank. It's just about the story being unpopular. Which in turn makes soap fans want to attack other characters who they feel are being "propped up."

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

I actually think that is the way it should be applied. As long as it is completely nonsensical. Not when the show gives a reason to why the character is acting a certain way and practically spoon feeds the audience why a certain character is the way they are. A character not doing what you want them to do =/= propping.

Edited October 20, 201114 yr by Skin

But fans rarely agree that/if proper motivation is supplied. Case in point---the Julia/Jack/Carly stuff. I would point out that a rich chick who dons a hat and glasses to "run away" from an unwanted suitor isn't exactly "stable" to begin with. Or I'd remind them that Julia got mixed up in Holden's plot to cover up David's murder, R/avid got her hooked on pills, and then blackmailed her, which is the point she "snapped". Yes, Carly was an irritant in her life, but didn't have as much to do with her slide into insanity.

It's easier to argue about propping now, when plots move at the speed of light or HWs are much more inclined to "tweak" character's personalities to suit their stories.