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Your best and worst (soap by soap)


DRW50

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I'm with you, Eric. I need to think a bit. One I don't need to think about:

Favorite male character: I never realized that last year, but only after the show went off; Adam Chandler. Without David Canary's portrayal, the show was missing something for me. I identified with this character more than I should, and we shall leave it at that.

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Least favorite male & female characters: Greenpea and Ryan Lavery. So sad seeing as Leo & Collard Greens were one of the reasons I started to tune into AMC full time around 2000. I also like Ryan with Gillian; however, when they paired these two up, I couldn't take it. Their "so called love" being shoved down our throats along with the writers trying to make Ryan some upstanding citizen, when he came to town as a con-man, made me wanna puke. These two (along with Zendall) eating up the show made me tune out the last year and a half. I also hated (or grew to) hate Tad, Kendall, and even Erica too in the last couple of years.

Favorite male & female character: Annie Lavery & JR Chandler. Loved them as a couple and loved them separtely. I was an Annie Lavery card carrier from day one. I loved her as the good girl, yet loved it when she unraveled as well. Reminded me of another Annie I loved -- Annie Dutton. I loved JR because he was the poor little rich boy with some many issues. Though I despised him sometimes, I always felt bad for him.

Favorite couple: Leo & Greenlee. Whether it was them overcoming Laura or Vanessa -- this couple was one of my favorites as they had "it." I just hate that they didn't put Greenlee back with the real man she loved in the end (thanks Prospect Park).

Least favorite couple: Zach and Kendall. They ate up the show, and I feel that the pairing did more damage to Kendall than any other pairing she had previously. Turning Kendall in the damsel and constant moaner p*ssed me off seeing as I watched her when SMG was in the role as child and saw how evil and conniving--just like Erica. She lost the factor that fans loved about her, being the "mini Erica." And Zach should've left the show after the Maria/Edmund saga ended TBH.

Favorite story: Proteus. I know that people hated it but I loved it.

Least favorite story: Greg Madden. This is when the show officially jumped the shark. To undo the abortion--the story that put AMC on the map, did the show in.

Best recast: Elisha Minshew comes to mind of course b/c she always brought it even though I grew to despise Kendall, but I'd also put Sabine Singh in this category as well as she made me grow to love Greenlee again when she was in the role. I guess because they pulled her away from Ryan and put her with Aidan made it happen.

Worst recast: Brianne Moncrief as Colby & Amanda Baker as Babe. Brianne was alright as an actress but she didn't have that spunk that Ambyr brought to the role. She became dull as dishwater when Brianne took over and stayed that way when Natalie took over, except Natalie (IMO) was a better actress. And Amanda Baker is a good actress but Babe should've been killed off when Alexa Havins left the role.

And what epitomized AMC to you: Escapism, and a good one at that when it was written well. Even though AMC was one of "my shows" I loved it like I do all the soaps.

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Favorite male character: Tad Martin. Tad the Cad was so funny back in the day and even as he settled down, he could still make me laugh most of the time. Also, I cared what happened next to him, which I didn't about several other main characters in recent years.

Least favorite male character: Zach Slater. This Sonny Corinthos-wannabe just never fit into my vision of Pine Valley as a quaint community. Even worse, imo there was no reason to bring on another Cambias after Michael's death and his pairing with Kendall was just unwatchable!

Favorite female character: Erica Kane. She was daytime's definitive diva!

Least favorite female character: Babe Chandler. From the start, Babe was a self-centered whore who didn't care about JR's feelings when she slept with a stranger. The more the writers tried to redeem her, the least likeable I found her to be.

Favorite couple: Greg & Jenny. I had been watching for a couple of years before they arrived, but they were only a few years older than me and their love story captivated me in ways that none did before or since.

Least favorite couple: It's a toss-up to me between Ryan & Greenlee and Zach & Kendall.

Favorite story: Mark Dalton's drug addiction. It played out realistically over several years before the intervention and was just really well done.

Least favorite story: This is the hardest one for me to choose because there were so many Megan McTavish clunkers: Mateo's psychic coma, vigilante Brooke, Mike Roy/Christine Montgomerey/Alexander Cambias returning from the dead and Dixie's poisoned pancakes deserve dishonorable mention, but the hands-down most eye-rollingly bad story imo was the Unabortion!

Funniest scene: Erica fleeing her faux-wedding to Jeremy/failed prison escape on the helicopter ladder while the Martins were watching it on the news.

Favorite/best scene: Cliff & Nina's train reunion on Martha's Vineyard.

Least favorite scene: Zach rescuing a trussed-up Kendall from the Satin Slayer/his father. I stopped watching briefly while that crap was airing!

Best recast: Julia Barr as Brooke English. She made such an impact in the role that I sometimes forget she wasn't the original.

Worst recast: Melody Anderson as Natalie. She had none of the spunk that Kate Collins did.

And what epitomized AMC to you: Characters who were individuals and had heart and humor more than on any other soap, dealing with real-world social issues and most of all relying on their friends and family through the difficult times.

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Favorite male character: Nick Davis. He wasn't around very often, but I loved the warm and straight-shooting presence Larry Keith brought to the role. I was riveted by his relationship with Erica - he understood her better than anyone, and tried to guide her on the right path, but clearly loved her just as she was, instead of shaming her. Keith and Susan Lucci were a fantastic viewing experience, playing off each other so effortlessly.

Favorite female character: This is difficult, as there were a number of women I liked or were fascinated by, but their stories or romances often dragged them down. I'll probably just go with Janet, as in my peak era of watching AMC, I was a huge fan of the character, and Robin Mattson's performance. The story where defended herself and got herself acquitted on murder charges was something I just could not get enough of, even if I knew they were trying to turn her crazy again.

Favorite couple: Stuart and Marian. I'm not sure I have ever seen such effortless chemistry, in a story which could easily have seemed like a cheap joke. David Canary got to show so many different shadings with Jennifer Bassey and even in that flicker of a final scene when they were reunited, they were still so perfect. What I liked most about them was the tenderness of their relationship.

Least favorite male: Mateo Santos. Years of arm-grabbing, finger-pointing, and general assholishness at all times. You can say the same about Ryan, Jake, etc. but I was more invested in the show at the time Mateo was front and center, and I just couldn't take the constant smugness.

Least favorite female: Greenlee. The dead fish. A great example of what has killed daytime. Cold, self-righteous, bitter, and yet somehow, always the victim, and always center stage.

Least favorite couple: Jake and Liza. The show got Liza's first year (give or take) back so right, and then someone decided she needed to be tamed, and needed to have a monkey berating her for her career and her life until she agreed to cling to the Martins and live with him on his boat. A depressing and misogynist relationship which took away everything good about Liza, and sadly, it really never came back.

Best story: It was full of writing issues, but I just loved the idea of and many of the performances in the story about Adrian being Opal's long lost son. I think the idea had the potential to run for years, and the scenes of Opal learning and then revealing the truth were some of the most searing on daytime. I also got a kick out of the story where Erica/Skye/Janet all hid Kinder's body, while Marian wondered what was going on. The Cambias rape and murder, mostly for the Kendall/Erica/Bianca dynamics. Erica's pill addiction and Betty Ford scenes. The homophobia story with Michael Delaney. Kevin's reparative therapy story.

Worst story: #1 has to be Gillian being shot in the head and the door being kicked down so Leo could take her heart. Why?? A great example of how many hack writers clung to the BJ's heart story. Everyone wanting to kill Adam, often for little reason, and Adam killing Stuart. Tanner Jordan. Kit Fisher. Janet and that damn candy cane. Josh's death. The Martin family hounding Dixie into a miscarriage.

Best recast: On many occasions I had never seen the original actor before the recast, so I'm not too sure. Of people where I saw the original actor first, I would go with Christian Campbell, who had far more potential as Bobby than the stuttering vagrant ever did. Of people I did not see the original actor until later on, I'd have to say the wonderful Carrie Genzel as Skye Chandler, who carried major portions of the show in 1997 and got a pink slip for it :(

Worst recast: 30 year old Rosa. Gasping, weird Laura Allen, who somehow made me miss Lauren Roman. The many Pierce recasts - how was Maxwell Caulfield (who might have been fine in another role) a grizzled Vietnam vet who had spent years as a hermit? Daniel Cosgrove as Scott.

Best exit: Gloria. The type of soap exit I really miss, as it built up over a few weeks, drew on her history, and was low-key but still memorable.

Worst exit: Julia. How disgusting to murder a character for such little reason. Unlike Stuart, she never got to come back.

Funniest scene:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP75CwGOA1g

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I want to change my favorite male character. I had said Mark Dalton, but I think that Benny Sago may have been it.

Tom and Erica were not my very favorite couple, but of all of the men who were with Erica, Tom was my favorite by far.

My least favorite couple were Donna Courtlandt and Tom Cudahy.

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I wish I could see more of Benny. I guess I haven't bothered to look. I liked the actor in his other soap roles (I haven't seen a lot of the first Benny).

It's still odd to imagine Tom and Donna together.

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All My Children

Favorite male character:

Adam Chandler (reasons already mentioned)

Favorite female character:

Brooke (reasons already mentioned)

Honorable mentions: Erica, Angie, Janet, Natalie, Annie

Favorite couple:

Phoebe & Langley. They were hilarious.

Hayley & Brian. They were a great younger couple.

Least favorite couple:

Ryan & Greenlee. UGH!

Favorite story:

It's hard to pick one. I know it's not everyone's cuppa, but I'll have to say 'Natalie In the Well'. It's the first story that got me completely HOOKED.

Least favorite story:

Again, it's hard to pick one. LOL. But I'd say the Rylee nonsense ranks high. Also, the Unabortion is just unforgivable.

Funniest scene:

Phoebe drunk at her wedding.

Favorite/best scene:

The tornado ("94) sequence.

Best recast:

Jill Larson as Opal. Dorothy Lyman was fabulous, but Jill really rose to the occasion and made Opal her own. Robin Mattson also did a great job with Janet.

Worst recast:

Melody Anderson as Natalie (reason mentioned).

And what epitomized AMC to you:

The family relationships (Erica & Mona, the Martins, ect). Also, the quirky/oddball characters like Billy Clyde, Opal, Janet, ect.

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