Popular pairings which abruptly ended

[Dr Neil Curtis]

DAYS: Though they weren't a couple they allegedly had a one night stand.....Roman & Nicole.

[Soaplovers]

Co-sign on all of the above!!!

I actually liked Fox with Theresa (due to their awesome chemistry.. and it appears the actors realized it since they got married off screen!). It would have been refreshing for Theresa to be with a guy who... gulp.. actually liked her and pursued her. Made her realize that she was worth being pursued.. but no... a female with self-esteem was a big no-no ... sigh.

Storywise, I thought Fox/Whitney was more fascinating for me.. only because it would have been a repeat history of Julian/Eve... and imagine TC's reaction to his pride and joy mixing up with his sworn enemies son! The actors had a fair amount of chemistry as well.. and there could have been ample amounts of story to play out for years to come. Of course, character driven was not the show's cup on tea.. it appears.

[juniorz1]

OMG! I totally forgot to mention them but you're absolutely right. And Peter Love got a pretty raw deal after they broke up Ric & Kelly (for no reason). Of all the siblings the writers/producers introduced for Cruz, Ric and the most potential.

I will say, however, that Carrington Garland did grow leaps & bounds as an actress from working with Roscoe Born.

[ghfan89]

Speaking of Kelly, anyone know why they fired the original Joe?

[juniorz1]

Yes, he had trouble remembering his lines, was often late to the set, and they thought of him more of eye candy than a serious actor. They decided they wanted someone with more experience who would be able to better handle the workload and hired Mark Arnold.

It was the first of many controversial firings to come on Santa Barbara but a HUGE mistake, especially since the show was so early in its run.

The thing about the soaps (and frankly, sometimes Primetime and feature films) is that sometimes, charisma and presence can make up for lack of skill as an actor. And when a show is starting and you have a signature couple you're trying to build, chemistry is HUGELY important and Robin Wright and Dane Witherspoon (the original Joe) had it in spades. In fact, Robin Wright was VERY upset by his firing and really went to bat for him, but in the end, her efforts were for naught.

But it turned out she was right- the fans REVOLTED, wrote in, complained to the network, and Witherspoon's replacement, Mark Arnold, good of an actor as he was, didn't click on the show. So Joe was killed off shortly after marrying Kelly and Mark Arnold didn't even last a year- hell, I'm not sure he even lasted six months.

It was unfortunate because Robin Wright's Kelly never had a romantic pairing that worked again. Some would argue that Jeffrey Conrad, whom she married, was the exception, but that coupling didn't hold a candle to Joe/Kelly.

Incidentally, Kelly didn't work in a romantic pairing until Carrington Garland took over the part and Garland had chemistry with ALL of her leading men and worked in all of her pairings- Ric, Robert, and even Craig Hunt.

And when Garland was fired in favor of Eileen Davidson, Kelly's couplings again no longer worked (Cruz and then Connor McCabe (Charles Grant))

[DRW50]

Would Eden/Robert count, or was that never really a relationship? Didn't they say they broke up that story because Robert and Eden were becoming too popular?

[Wendy]

THIS. Times a million.

If this is not allowed mods, go ahead and delete - and this is not meant as self promotion - but I coincidentally uploaded a Ric and Kelly scene today. I adored them, but then came Robert, and that was that.

Still sad that they were pulled, even though I know CG's Kelly had chemistry with practically everyone. What could have been...

[DRW50]

Thanks for sharing that. Carrington and Marcy Walker are two of the soap "faces" I first remember, the first two I was interested in and wondered what their characters were and could be. I never watched SB regularly but I've always carried an imprint of the two ladies.