Soap questions you want to ask but havent

[frequentsoapfan]

His original last name was Herbst from what I heard.

[Khan]

It's probably because his return would have raised the question of why he left the family in the first place. No one who had watched ALL MY CHILDREN for more than five minutes would have accepted the notion of Dr. Joe Martin as a "bad" father, or one so inattentive and neglectful that one of his kids felt compelled to leave the nest. His relationships with Tara, Jeff, Tad and even Jake bear that out.

On the other hand, I can think of at least two ways to re-introduce Bobby that would not have damaged anyone's reputation (for lack of a better word):

1) The so-called "Adam Carrington approach," named for Blake and Alexis' insta-son on DYNASTY. Here, as on DYNASTY, you suggest that Bobby was abducted and/or presumed dead during that infamous summer at (ski) camp -- an ordeal so soul-wrenching, the Martins have long held an implied code never to mention it (until, of course, Bobby actually returns a mid-aged man, forcing the family to relive the entire, nightmarish experience).

2) When Bobby actually returns to Pine Valley, Joe casually explains away that Bobby decided to return to California (after being away at camp) in order to remain close to his friends and his mother's family. Not as dramatic as the first scenario, mind you, but probably not as awkward to explain to the audience as Adam's kidnapping and "death" was to DYNASTY's viewers.

[Cheap21]

Or they could just act like he was always around and in contact with the family like the other rarely seen Martin kids from wherever he moved to in the world

[DRW50]

If I ever write an AMC fanfic, the first thing would be Bobby's sudden return from years of self-imposed exile, at Ruth Martin's funeral. I would say that he couldn't accept his father moving on with Ruth, and that he also had...other reasons for leaving, which Ruth knew some of.

[Cheap21]

He didn't stay away bc he was gay and didn't know how to come out to his family? Ugh wrong soap

[DRW50]

No. It's because of a crime, and also because he just didn't fit in and was confused, this being the early 70's.

[Khan]

To me, however, that's like Y&R's Nick and Victoria talking about Christmas vacations and other childhood "memories" that obviously never happened due to SORAS'ing. Perhaps I'm too persnickety sometimes about what I expect and demand from a soap opera, but I feel like the relationship between the writers and the audience is so fundamental and that anything that encroaches upon it should be avoided at all costs.

[Khan]

Lynn Marie Latham and Bernard Lechowick did that all the time on KNOTS LANDING: introduce (or, in at least one case, re-introduce) a character who comes armed already with a Big Juicy Secret That Will Change Everything. Don't get me wrong, I get the appeal of it, but I feel like sometimes it's better to take the quieter, less convoluted way out.

Let me guess: he was involved in countercultural activities (e.g., protests, bombings, kidnappings, etc.)?

[ClassicSoapsFan]

Kelly Ripa also did but this was when she was on Live With Regis and Kelly and AMC at the same time so I am not sure that counts.

I just watched the Susan Lucci episode last night on netflix. It was so awesome!! Probably the best episode I seen. But also I love Phil Hartman playing a long side Lucci in much of her sketches.

[DeeeDee]

Some of those memories did happen (though not many of the ones they reminisce about) because they weren't SORASed together.

[frequentsoapfan]

Why does DAYS love to reuse actors? For example an actor will come on playing one role then end up playing another role on the show(JE as Bonnie and Adrienne,MH as older Johnny came back as Nathan, the Dario actor played some patient who died then came back a few weeks later as Dario, TB's two roles,etc)

[MissLlanviewPA]

Don't forget Josh Taylor as Chris/Roman and Wayne Northrop as Roman/Alex!

I have no idea, Granted, there are other cases where a soap has cast an actor in a different role at different types (Jordan Clarke had two roles on GL, Christine Jones had THREE on OLTL, and of course Sarah Brown on GH had two), but DAYS' obsession with it is particularly weird.

ETA: "forgot" should actually be "forget." My grammar/spelling is better than this. Gah.

[frequentsoapfan]

DAYS will hire someone as a Dayplayer and then offer them another role where they appear onscreen a month later. It's actually annoying.

[Khan]

And didn't even Ali Sweeney once play a younger version of another character in some flashback years before joining the show as Sami?

Certainly, it isn't true for every actor on the list, but I feel like many actors on DAYS get re-hired and re-used because Ken Corday is particularly fond of them.

[Gray Bunny]

I think that happened with Victor Alfieri as Franco. I don't remember him appearing beforehand, but apparently he was on the show a few months beforehand.

The actor who played T.C., some prison guard who nearly killed Jack (Steve Wilder) in 1997 played like 4 other roles. I remember seeing him in old episodes I had on tape, from a park ranger in Aremid to a thug at the Cheatin' Heart who tried to pick a fight with Bo, to a father of a dying girl that Lexie & Brandon were taking care of.... they recycled that actor all the time!