Overhyped Daytime Soap Actors and Actresses

[Max]

Jane, thank you so much for your very kind words. I feel exactly the same way about you.

Ellabelle, I certainly didn't mean to imply that it was Lucci's fault that AMC ended. What I was trying to say, however, was that if she was such a big draw, then ratings would not have sucked even though the stories did. Furthermore, new viewers would have been attracted to AMC because (in the public's mind) it is defined as "Susan Lucci's soap" (and that perception still remianed even though she got less screen time, as you pointed out).

In terms of star power, Lucci did indeed live up to the hype back in the 80s & 90s, when AMC was a ratings powerhouse. I just wanted to clarify that she no longer lives up to that hype, at least when it comes to soaps. (Does anybody believe another soap's ratings would skyrocket if she joined the cast?) I still give Lucci a lot of credit for building her image in a way no other soap star has ever done (as Jane pointed out). Though that star power is no longer enough to ensure good soap ratings, it has launched her into a career as a very successful commercial spokeswoman.

[Soapsuds]

[JaneAusten]

Max that's a good way of putting it

But really name me one soap actor that really can do what your asking in today's soap climate or even mainstream actor. James Franco didn't do anything for General Hospital. Vanessa Marcils return did nothing, none of the casting moves Y&R have made over the past 2 years in casting names has helped them. I just think the days of a soap name or a name only attracting a significant boost are gone.just to give you a point of reference. The Good Wife this year has spent a lot of effort on bringing on and promoting named guest stars all season yet because the writing overall has been inconsistent IMO, the ratings have not omly notimproved but have suffered as a result.

[VirginiaHamilton]

Nancy Lee Grahn owns this thread. I say this because folks praise her as if she is the Meryl Streep of Daytime even though her thespian skills are comparable to a clucking chicken's.

Florenzia Lozano is another overhyped actress whose acting consists of smug glowering and screeching. How this chick is considered to be a superior actress to Kassie DePaiva is beyond me.

Trevor St. John also belongs on this list, as his acting has always been one-note (as well as the reason why I never accepted him as Todd and was thrilled that Roger Howarth came back to right the wrong that was his hiring) and set to !@#$%^&*] 200% of the time.

Rebecca Herbst gets an honorable mention - not because I think that she sucks as an actress, but because I don't think that she was ever good enough to be rehired. She's serviceable at best, which is why the outrage over her firing last year confounded me.

[VirginiaHamilton]

To be fair, MB used to play Sonny as a Hispanic man (even if it was 15-20 years ago) - back when TPTB gave a chickenshit about diversity. I don't necessarily blame him for those comments (though I'll certainly agree that what he said was stupid) because he's simply echoing what TPTB told him to once they decided that Sonny was going to be Eye-talian over a decade ago.

However, you can add me as a +1 to your table re: KS and LA because they both grated on my last nerve. Hiring JL (which, from what I see, is a hell of a lot more tolerable than her predecessor) and getting rid of Kristina was one of the few good decisions TPTB ever made last year.

[VirginiaHamilton]

Considering that crying nearly to death was 90% of what he was given to work with during his latest tenure, I don't blame him a bit for leaving.

[Cheap21]

that was a pure acting choice. His scenes did not require him crying ad nauseum. Jake's death required crying but unfortunately he didnt limit it to that as he was tearing up from the moment he came back, even at the most inappropriate times. This was his fault, not the writers.

[frequentsoapfan]

And being determined to make Sonny the most Eye talian resulted in more bad Jersey Shore like stereotypes for GH. And the Sonny's famous sauce and pasta stuff was beyond annoying. I sat there thinknig "Can he at least switch it up to arroz con frijoles?" I knew why Dante had to be Italian but trying to convince us of the diversity of GH by using Sonny while the rest of his children were played by actors who could never pass for even half latinos was ridiculous.

I find JL to be closer to the Maxie was saw grow up and loved. Not just look wise but now that KS isnt coming back she stopped imitating her and its much better. I agree getting rid of Kristina was a one of the few good decisions GW made as Kristina should've been gone long ago when Alexis suggested to Sonny about sending her to that boarding school.

[VirginiaHamilton]

I disagree. JJ Lucky was given nothing but horseshit to wade through from the time he came back to the canvas (save for the times when he was flirting with Maya and Siobhan/placed in Maxie's orbit), as he himself complained that they barely gave his character a happy moment to revel in. Guza may have thought that he was nurturing a great talent, but his 'methods' ended up wearing out even the most die-hard of fans (which is, again, why I don't blame JJ one bit for flying the coop once his sentence - uh, contract - was up).

Having seen JJ Lucky prior to this past stint, as well as JJ in other projects, I know for a fact that he can and has done a lot more than "crying ad nauseum". TPTB wasting a great actor (in the same vein that they wasted VMG as Brenda - something that I find absolutely unforgivable) is one of the numerous reasons why this show is on its way to the morgue.

[DRW50]

He wept over the glory of Jason as a father (and this was long before Jake died). I still can't get past that. Just pure lazy acting.

The first time JJ mostly just yelled and aped Tony Geary. I think the only time I saw him act was when he was in the rape story with Liz (which of course was mostly about him anyway, as always in Guzaland).

[Cheap21]

No one is denying that he was given crap material. He got horseshit, so the way he compensated was to cry through it all?

[VirginiaHamilton]

You are correct about the Eye-talian stereotypes (SnookLynn's last stint still makes me weep, as being the no-class whore of the snaggletooth bitch that played a major part in the gutting of the Quartermaine family is the last thing that I would've wanted for the child of Ned and Lois) casting a fartcloud over the show. The last time poor Sonny was able to reference his Cuban heritage was during the Clinton Administration and it's a pity because that was the last time I ever liked that character. By the time his children came along (which, BTW, I hadn't seen until I came back to the show in the fall of 2009), I wasn't at all surprised to see that they'd hired a non-Latino actor* and actress to play his kids since the whitewashing of Sonny Corinthos had been in place for a long time.

*though I will say that I was one of the viewers who did enjoy Morgan 1.0, as he had a natural rapport with his TV family. The less I saw about idiot Morgan 2.0, the better.

I'll admit that I only saw JL a few times (since I'd only returned earlier this month to see T&B and didn't bother to stick around after they left), so my take on her Maxie is based on that. I can't say that she reminded me of Robyn Richards (who was my favorite Maxie and who I wished they'd kept instead of recasting her with the dreadful KS) since I hadn't seen enough of her to make that distinction, but I will say that she reminds me of a real girl and not a squeak toy. If they start writing her that way, it'd go a long way into rehabilitating the wrong that this show has done to Felicia's daughter.

I missed GW's stint, so I also can't speak on what he did right or wrong but if he was the one that decided to get rid of Kristina, then kudos to him for accomplishing what Guza refused to do. The fact that some compare that brat to teen Robin Scorpio or teen Liz Webber still sets my teeth on edge.

I would, too, if that were me.

[SFK]

But see, Susan Lucci has never been hyped for her acting ability, if that's what we're talking about here. Erica Kane was a phenomenon, it was the currictuh that took the country by storm and her OTT portrayal of an OTT woman had fans mesmerized. People have to realize that that was part of Erica's magic. You would roll your eyes and guffaw and crack up over the stuff that so earnestly came out of her mouth. It's on par with a John Waters movie. You aren't rolling in the aisles because Divine or Mary Vivian Pearce or Cookie Mueller are such great actors, but it's what they're saying and how they're saying it that is just a perfectly hysterical combination. You can throw Andrea Evans in that mix. There really is something to be said for charisma, and I mean, REAL charisma, not "so-and-so is hot and we'll call that charisma".

[ellabelle]

THANK YOU. Yes, exactly. Susan has never been hyped for her acting skills. In fact, people have been trashing her acting skills for years.

[DRW50]

Eva La Rue

Kevin McClathy

Hunt Block

Roger Howarth

Trevor St. John

Florencia Lozano

Genie Francis

Tony Geary

Chandler Massey

Wendy Moniz - stopped watching GL because of her.