With summer just around the corner and our remaining shows beefing up their younger sets, I wanted to start a thread on teen storylines. What were your favorite stories and sets of teens? Feel free to post clips or rant about how much you hate teens on soaps.

My Favorites

1. GH- Lucky/Liz/Emily/Nik- 4 strong actors with solid friendship chemisty. Beyond the L&L2 sweet romance and Emily's crush on Nik, you had the brothers dynamic, Liz & Emily as close girlfriends and Lucky & Emily as longtime friends played by actors who had been in the parts for years. They were tied to and interacted with famiilies and characters outside the teen storyline. Teen scenes don't get much better.

2. Will/Gwen- ATWT- Before they became all about serial killers and infertility at 20 and other crises, this was a strong couple played by two solid actors. I loved the early days and the build from friendship to romance. I'm a sucker for us against the world couples and for the first year, they were fantastic. Its a shame Jen Landon isn't a bigger star.

3. Last Blast crew on days- Yes they ate the show and yes it was campy and silly but I loved this crew. Probably because I was right around their age. Unlike my first two, this one doesn't hold up as well but I remember being obsessed and waiting all year for summer when I knew they would be on pretty much everyday.

Honorable mention- the Glow by Jabot crew on Y&R (Billy, Mac, Raul, Brittany);

Dishonorable mentions- every AMC teen set post Jenny & Greg. Also I could never get into Starr/Cole.

Whatever you want- I was just thinking of the younger sets that tend to get a lot of play during the summer- high school, college. We don't have to hold to hard rules about ages since god knows the shows don't.

Ah, OK...

In that case, I did like the OLTL "teen" college scene that introduced Todd Manning. While some characters were forgettable (Kevin Buchanan), there were others that I definitely became invested in such as the aforementioned Todd, Marty, Powell, and the best Rachel of all the Rachels. I think that that was the last teen scene that offered fully realized characters.

Much as I enjoyed Jessica/Cristian 1.0, there was never really a worthy teen scene built around them and I won't even get started on the mess of teen characters that came on after Cristian 2.0 was cast. And while I don't hate the last teen scene as much as many OLTLers did, it, in no way, shape, or form, compares to the "teen" college scene of the early to mid 90s.

Edited April 18, 201213 yr by VirginiaHamilton

I've enjoyed what I've seen of the original Four Musketeers--GL's Phillip, Beth, Rick & Mindy (Even though I prefer GA & BC together as Phillip & Beth).

They weren't teens or even early 20s, but I'm sure OLTL's Cord, Tina, Max & Gabrielle (hell, throw Sarah, Megan & Jake in there, too!) appealed to a lot to teens. And that, IMO, made up for a lack of teen scene in the mid-late 80s.

I did always like Langston & Starr's friendship, though (And while some of Dani & Starr's scenes were sweet, I really think they should have been more like rivals like their moms once were--not that Dani needed to exist in the first place ).

LOL at Kimberly McCullough being the only real teen in the 92-93 GH teen picture (and of course Michael Sutton was no teen either once he came along). They did seem to be blatantly ripping off 90210, though--right down to naming one of the girls Brenda!

Edited April 18, 201213 yr by MissLlanviewPA

I did always like Langston & Starr's friendship, though.

LOL at Kimberly McCullough being the only real teen in the 92-93 GH teen picture (and of course Michael Sutton was no teen either once he came along). They did seem to be blatantly ripping off 90210, though--right down to naming one of the girls Brenda!

Starr and Langston was my favorite part of that teen scene, actually. OLTL was pretty consistent about their friendship, which was refreshing in an ABCD lineup that thrives on all women bitching at each other. (Ron could at least have Starr call her best friend onscreen a time or two, just to show that she isn't completely friendless.)

The funny thing is that I didn't even realize then that I was watching GH ripoff 90210 back then (you think that I would, being a huge 90210 fan at the time), but after someone pointed it out, well, I realized that two of my favorite TV characters shared a first name (Brenda Barrett and Brenda Walsh). From there, it was pretty easy for me to figure out who GH's Brandon, Kelly, Dylan, Steve, and Donna were supposed to be....

Alot of adults characters appeal to teens moreso than the teen scenes alot of the time.

It all depends on how characters are written. If teens/adults are written well and are given good story, viewers of any age will have no problem getting sucked into the drama. If teens/adults are written poorly and are handed crappy storylines, then viewers will tune out.

You'd think that HWs would recognize this simple fact.

You know I never got a 90210 comparison with GH till you guys just pointed it out

They weren't teens or even early 20s, but I'm sure OLTL's Cord, Tina, Max & Gabrielle (hell, throw Sarah, Megan & Jake in there, too!) appealed to a lot to teens. And that, IMO, made up for a lack of teen scene in the mid-late 80s.

OLTL had teens with Mary Lynn and she had a couple of suitors. It was all pathetic though and very forgettable

Edited April 18, 201213 yr by Cheap21

Starr and Langston was my favorite part of that teen scene, actually. OLTL was pretty consistent about their friendship, which was refreshing in an ABCD lineup that thrives on all women bitching at each other. (Ron could at least have Starr call her best friend onscreen a time or two, just to show that she isn't completely friendless.)

The funny thing is that I didn't even realize then that I was watching GH ripoff 90210 back then (you think that I would, being a huge 90210 fan at the time), but after someone pointed it out, well, I realized that two of my favorite TV characters shared a first name (Brenda Barrett and Brenda Walsh). From there, it was pretty easy for me to figure out who GH's Brandon, Kelly, Dylan, Steve, and Donna were supposed to be....

So Robin= Donna Martin? There's something hilarious about that. And who was Steve?

Why have soaps stopped trying to make teen sets happen? It's very weird. Everyone on daytime (other than the actual children) is over 20.

I loved Billy and Mac on Y&R, their story was classic soap. I still remember the scene after their junior prom, where Jill went in on Mac about kissing Billy. Jess Walton was absolutely perfect basically playing the part of a Disney villain to Billy and Mac's starr-crossed loves. And David Tom, in retrospect, was really working that whole Leonardo DiCaprio/Jack Dawson floppy haired white boy thing. Billy was only like 3 years old in real but it really just worked. Raul and Brittany worked too until Bobby came along and they forced her into a chemistry free pairing with Bobby (who sparked insanely well with MTS but Braeden couldn't have that). Unfortunately Billy and Mac fell apart with the awful recasts. Kelly Krueger just looked too hard and world weary to be Mac. And Ryan Brown was just too pretty. Let's not even talk about the guy who looked like he was punched in the face who played Billy for like a week or Cybil Shepherd's daughter who couldn't act much better than drywall.

TC l didnt need to be Greek/Russion and neither did SM. TC however looked caucasion like the rest of his family (Laura, Lucky, Helena, Stefan, Stavros, etc...) SM physically looked like he was a different race and stuck out like a sore thumb. The recast was not consistent with the look of the character and it bothered me the entire time he was on.

Mikkos was played by an ethnic-looking Canadian actor whose last name was Colicos. I remember Mikkos being a powerful and scary man. Stavros was originally played by a fairly dark-complected Italian actor named Martinuzzi back when he was with Laura, then the part was taken over Robert Kelker-Kelly when Stavros was thawed out. Although RKK had black hair and dark eyes we made fun of him at first because he was clearly not Greek or Russian. Helena's hair was obviously colored but was probably quite dark when she was younger, and Alexis was dark enough to be half Greek-Russian. For those reasons, I thought the Latino Stephen Martinez looked the part more than TC did.

So Robin= Donna Martin? There's something hilarious about that. And who was Steve?

Without the forever-mentioned virgin status, yep. Someone had to be the innocent one in that group and that was Robin (by default, since she was the youngest).

The closest thing to Steve (at least, the high-school/early college years), IMO, was AJ. He was the cocky rich boy who didn't feel as loved by his parents, just like Steve and his adopted mother did.

Mikkos was played by an ethnic-looking Canadian actor whose last name was Colicos. I remember Mikkos being a powerful and scary man. Stavros was originally played by a fairly dark-complected Italian actor named Martinuzzi back when he was with Laura, then the part was taken over Robert Kelker-Kelly when Stavros was thawed out. Although RKK had black hair and dark eyes we made fun of him at first because he was clearly not Greek or Russian. Helena's hair was obviously colored but was probably quite dark when she was younger, and Alexis was dark enough to be half Greek-Russian. For those reasons, I thought the Latino Stephen Martinez looked the part more than TC did.

He would have been fine cast as a Cassadine in the 80s. Years later in the 00s, not so much as he looked little like the family which surrounded him

Why have soaps stopped trying to make teen sets happen? It's very weird. Everyone on daytime (other than the actual children) is over 20.

I loved Billy and Mac on Y&R, their story was classic soap. I still remember the scene after their junior prom, where Jill went in on Mac about kissing Billy. Jess Walton was absolutely perfect basically playing the part of a Disney villain to Billy and Mac's starr-crossed loves. And David Tom, in retrospect, was really working that whole Leonardo DiCaprio/Jack Dawson floppy haired white boy thing. Billy was only like 3 years old in real but it really just worked. Raul and Brittany worked too until Bobby came along and they forced her into a chemistry free pairing with Bobby (who sparked insanely well with MTS but Braeden couldn't have that). Unfortunately Billy and Mac fell apart with the awful recasts. Kelly Krueger just looked too hard and world weary to be Mac. And Ryan Brown was just too pretty. Let's not even talk about the guy who looked like he was punched in the face who played Billy for like a week or Cybil Shepherd's daughter who couldn't act much better than drywall.

well there is only 4 soaps on the air. B&B's teen scene has grown up and they're in their 20s now and as a 30 minute show, it cant affod an influx of kids that are actual teens now. GH has reports of recasting Sonny's kids (one of which already has been done). Y&R is SORASing its younger set to teens for the summer and Days currently already has teens on its show

Edited April 18, 201213 yr by Cheap21

You know I never got a 90210 comparison with GH till you guys just pointed it out

BH 90210:

PC 90210:

BH 90210:

PC 90210:

complete with the mom jeans! LOL. I would say

Karen = Brenda

Jagger = Dylan

Robin = Donna

Brenda = Kelly

AJ = Steve

Jason = Brandon

Wow, surprised I never noticed before

Edited April 18, 201213 yr by Cheap21

Brenda, Dylan, Kelly

Karen, Jagger, Brenda

Just sayin'....

complete with the mom jeans! LOL. I would say

Karen = Brenda

Jagger = Dylan

Robin = Donna

Brenda = Kelly

AJ = Steve

Jason = Brandon

Wow, surprised I never noticed before

Meanwhile, GH didn't even bother to find a David or Ahn-drea...