Characters that we gone too long and should've been on canvas

[DRW50]

IMO her story ended when Sonny left in 1997. I liked the reconciliation with Julia, but everything else - that embarrassing breakdown, the reunion with Jax, basically being handed this and that by Jax and sitting around talking with Robin about how perfect he was - either didn't work or seemed like filler. Her return stories always seemed like marking time until she left again. I think the story with her mother in mid-98 was the final ribbon on the bow and they should have left it there.

[Cat]

Brenda (Vanessa Marcil), GH.

Stefan (Stephen Nichols), GH. The Cassadines were never the same afterwards.

Laura (Genie Francis), GH. I can't even stomach Luke on my screen now.

AJ (Sean Kanan), GH.

ALL the Quartermaines, GH.

Anna Devane, Robert Scorpio and Duke Lavery (Finola Hughes, Tristan Rogers and Ian Buchanan), GH.

Liz Foster (Julianna McCarthy), Y&R.

Drucilla (Victoria Rowell), Y&R.

Malcolm (Shermar Moore), Y&R.

Bobby Marsino (John Enos), Y&R. A Bobby-Nikki-Victor triangle writes itself.

Felicia (Lesli Kay), B&B -- she might as well be off canvas given how little she is featured.

Thorne (Winsor Harmon), B&B -- DITTO.

Not quite on topic but... I don't think they ever should have killed off Storm (William deVry) on B&B. He could have generated a lot of story, much more than the boring Marones. FWIW.

[Cheap21]

OLTL

Tina Lord. I cant believe 11-12 years were there between appearances. I think she could have been recasted with Cynthia Preston or Rebecca Staab

CJ and Cord Roberts. Basically I hate how the Roberts family was written out and never came back full force on the show

[Cat]

While the death of Bill Spencer (Jim Storm) on B&B has allowed the show to bring on Dollar Bill and open up the canvas, I did for a long time miss the Spencers (he and Caroline in particular) and wished they would have brought him back on a more permanently.

And with "the Spencers" I would also include Margo Lynley (Lauren Koslow).

[DRW50]

I agree. I struggle to even consider Dollar Dye Job part of the Spencers. Bill might have made that believable.

[Cat]

If he was still alive, we could have had a little more story on Dollar Bill's daddy issues. When he was introduced, it felt like a whole lot of Bill Sr and Jr story happened off screen and was told to us via expository dialogue and a video link from the dead. I mean, it could have been a much worse transition (Brad Bell has written worse!) and I get that he wanted to get to the meat, which was Bill Spencer Jr as a counterpoint to the Forresters. Still, there is something to be said for pacing SLs correctly and playing all the beats, and as a fan of Bill Sr, I would have appreciated it.

[DRW50]

B&B - CJ Garrison

DAYS - Marie Horton. This annoys me intensely and I didn't even see most of her time on the show.

GH - Julia Barrett

[Dr Neil Curtis]

GL: Hope Bauer, Trish Lewis, and Roxie Shayne.

Also Victoria Spaulding , Diahann Carroll could have rocked in that role!

DAYS: Susan Martin. during Julie's 1990 return, Susan could have followed suit and rival her for Vic. Ed Mallory was back as Bill in 1991, they could have reconnected and formed a Julie/Victor/Susan/Bill

[VirginiaHamilton]

Lucy Coe of GH. Point. Blank. Period.

Taylor Roxbury-Cannon (the Ingrid Rogers version) of GH.

You can say that again.

[Khan]

[beebs]

Speaking of which, what DID end up happening to Susan in the end? Considering what a huge part she was of DAYS' early success, i'd imagine there'd have to be a certain amount of finality to her departure, considering when she left GH in '84 there was no push to bring her back to DAYS.

Her and Scott Banning should've been brought back ages ago if they had the chance.

[carolineg]

Okay, I can't disagree with you on the 98 stuff. I thought aspects of her reunion with Jax and her brief goodbye scene with Sonny were good, but her breakdown was god awful. This was a case of TPTB catering to an actress wish for more meaty material to get Vanessa to stay another year.. I thought Brenda had more purpose than Sonny after 1997. That was the perfect end for his character, IMO. By the end of 98 he really had little to do besides bed Brenda lookalikes and run the mob poorly. Carson had some spark and potential, but that died somewhere around 03 (if not before) and Sonny has continued to be a detriment to the canvas for over a decade now, but that is another thread entirely.

BTW, I agree they should have brought Julia back long before they did. From my understanding her run in the late 90's was going to be longer, but for budget reasons they cut her because they needed more cash to bring KMc back for good. I heard that on the internet, so take it for what it's worth, but I don't think Julia and Robin should have been an either/or situation.

[DRW50]

That's interesting. Since Riche is the one who fired Crystal Carson in the first place I guess the choice wasn't too difficult. I agree it shouldn't have been either/or. Knowing this makes me feel annoyed because the writing for Robin was just awful in 1998, and a slap in the face to the character.

[SoapSurvivor]

OLTL was awful about that. TINA "F'ing" CLAYTON LORD ROBERTS , gone for 11 years, Andrea gone for 18 years? Yeah and her family just thrown away, they should have been the foundation of 2000's OLTL.

I always thought that somehow Delilah Ralston should have made her way back to Llanview, she was a popular and memorable character.

[carolineg]

It's a shame because they really only scratched the surface on all of Julia's relationships with the canvas in 98. I thought her and Brenda beginning to reconcile was great and had so many underlying issues that you began to understand why Brenda was so messed up. I also enjoyed her and Ned and thought they had great potential, although I did enjoy Ned and Alexis. She could have mixed it up with the Q's or tried to get Luke (who she was intrigued with because of her dating Bill Eckert), explored the fact that it was implied her and Jerry dated, etc. Julia had possibilities, while Robin was stuck in Jason/Carly/Michael hell for nearly a year. After seeing how Robin was wasted for a year and then thrown under the Carly bus, I can only believe they would have done more with Julia.