On GL, the Spaulding family was rarely complete onscreen. The rotating absences of Phillip, Alan-Michael, Amanda, and Alexandra irked me.

Ed Bauer should NEVER have been offscreen. The character was recast four times--it was possible when Peter Simon kept walking away. I bet Mart Hulswit would've enjoyed the work. Robert Gentry's return wasn't even given half a chance--what's the backstory on THAT? Mike and Hope were greatly missed also.

ATWT introduced ALL those Snyders, returning to Oakdale from More Exciting Lives elsewhere--then returning to them. Holden was the first AND the last. It was odd that they couldn't even return en masse for all of Holden's funerals.

FRANNIE HUGHES!!! ATWT just threw that character away! Likewise, Andy...Scott...Lien...Duke...Adam...all those pregnancies and long-lost children, all underutilized. Add Bianca and Nikki to that list. And even Sierra, for years.

Anna Brady DiMera was also mentioned early on. Leann Hunley is great and a bit underrated IMO. However, by the time she left in '86 she was pretty much comic relief with Calliope. I think the edge she had in '83-'84 -- smart, conniving, greedy -- would have played well for a long time. She wasn't the evil villian she was early on, which I think was a good thing, but her friendship with Calliope took away those edges and I think would have boxed her in a corner. Having said that, I tuned back in for her return 20 years later.

And what a mess they made of her return. More "let's pimp Rafe." I definitely think she would have been a nice character to have around. Not only did she have a nice edge, but she was always believable to me with the business stories. I could have definitely seen her being a powerful businesswoman.

The other void I never understand on Days was never doing anything with Shane, Kim and the Donovan kids. Other than bringing Shane back for a few brief stints and bringing Kim back for some funerals, the writers had an entire branch of the Brady family tree that they never explored. All we know is that Shane stayed with the ISA for years, Kim lived in Los Angeles and was married to a movie producer (probably Phillip Collier), and the kids were living in England with Shane when Kim left the show. Beyond that, Andrew and Jeannie were total blank slates. TPTB could have made them anything from well-heeled Brits to Hollywood brats. (Added benefit -- had they made James Scott's character Andrew, we could have avoided years of whining about EJami.) Also, nothing would have prevented TPTB from giving Kim more kids with Phillip. I have always assumed the biggest obstacle to doing anything with these characters was the TPTB's reluctance to bring back Patsy Pease for anything more than an episode or two after everything that happened in her final few years, but I think it would have been worth recasting the role to bring those characters back.

And what a mess they made of her return. More "let's pimp Rafe." I definitely think she would have been a nice character to have around. Not only did she have a nice edge, but she was always believable to me with the business stories. I could have definitely seen her being a powerful businesswoman.

The other void I never understand on Days was never doing anything with Shane, Kim and the Donovan kids. Other than bringing Shane back for a few brief stints and bringing Kim back for some funerals, the writers had an entire branch of the Brady family tree that they never explored. All we know is that Shane stayed with the ISA for years, Kim lived in Los Angeles and was married to a movie producer (probably Phillip Collier), and the kids were living in England with Shane when Kim left the show. Beyond that, Andrew and Jeannie were total blank slates. TPTB could have made them anything from well-heeled Brits to Hollywood brats. (Added benefit -- had they made James Scott's character Andrew, we could have avoided years of whining about EJami.) Also, nothing would have prevented TPTB from giving Kim more kids with Phillip. I have always assumed the biggest obstacle to doing anything with these characters was the TPTB's reluctance to bring back Patsy Pease for anything more than an episode or two after everything that happened in her final few years, but I think it would have been worth recasting the role to bring those characters back.

i think Jack once mentioned that Andrew, Melanie's kidnapper should have been Andrew Donovan and that would have been an interesting twist. Just think when Bo and Hope went to arrest him and they saw it was their nephew.

The Anna/Calliope friendship was also ruined in a few short days to prop Rafe as Sami's hero.

I don't necessarily think that so-called legacy characters have to be preserved at all costs, especially if the character just doesn't work, but not even to TRY with Andrew and Jeanne Donovan has been a missed opportunity. Same with CJ Roberts on OLTL or the Stewart/Ward quints on ATWT.

The Anna/Calliope friendship was also ruined in a few short days to prop Rafe as Sami's hero.

I don't necessarily think that so-called legacy characters have to be preserved at all costs, especially if the character just doesn't work, but not even to TRY with Andrew and Jeanne Donovan has been a missed opportunity. Same with CJ Roberts on OLTL or the Stewart/Ward quints on ATWT.

Agreed. (the Stewart/Ward kids were quads, though. But come on, what a GREAT opportunity they had with that! It's a shame.)

Edited October 15, 201213 yr by MissLlanviewPA

The Anna/Calliope friendship was also ruined in a few short days to prop Rafe as Sami's hero.

I don't necessarily think that so-called legacy characters have to be preserved at all costs, especially if the character just doesn't work, but not even to TRY with Andrew and Jeanne Donovan has been a missed opportunity. Same with CJ Roberts on OLTL or the Stewart/Ward quints on ATWT.

what was done with Anna and Caliope?

I agree with the post about Y&R's Greg Foster. I hate the way Y&R ignores Nikki's first marriage to Greg. They should bring him back in the form of the original James Houghton (with some grecian formula to look younger) and have Nikki go after him and piss Jill off. Wings Hauser played the role when Nikki & Greg were married, but he looked rough when he showed up a few years ago.

(Added benefit -- had they made James Scott's character Andrew, we could have avoided years of whining about EJami.) Also, nothing would have prevented TPTB from giving Kim more kids with Phillip.

I always said James Scott should have been Andrew and EJ should have be a hellish Teen in Will's group. Kim having kids with Phillip would have great too

(with some grecian formula to look younger)

Why? The last time I saw James Houghton, he looked good with the gray hair.

Jaime Caldwell on DOOL, she was never important but she hung around for a long time and her type of character is needed, she was Sami's only friend ever, I would love to see her now that's she older and how she'd deal with the "new" Sami. Maybe she's been in Salem all this time and has kids that can mix up with the teen scene, since everyone is related.

Shane Donovan. Not necessarily with Kim either (we have enough Brady's), his character alone brought an interesting dynamic to days, he alone spun off characters like Eve and Nick and another strange character. With Shane back that would have been a great reason to bring Sami 1.0/Eve Donovan back, but I guess the ship has sailed on her. The last true opportunity to bring her back was when Frankie showed up pining away for Jennifer,,,,where was his WIFE Eve?

Why? The last time I saw James Houghton, he looked good with the gray hair.

I thought he looked fine too, but when he appeared last time, everybody was ragging for days on end how he should dye his hair back brown. So I just typed that in case it cropped up again.

And what a mess they made of her return. More "let's pimp Rafe." I definitely think she would have been a nice character to have around. Not only did she have a nice edge, but she was always believable to me with the business stories. I could have definitely seen her being a powerful businesswoman.

The other void I never understand on Days was never doing anything with Shane, Kim and the Donovan kids. Other than bringing Shane back for a few brief stints and bringing Kim back for some funerals, the writers had an entire branch of the Brady family tree that they never explored. All we know is that Shane stayed with the ISA for years, Kim lived in Los Angeles and was married to a movie producer (probably Phillip Collier), and the kids were living in England with Shane when Kim left the show. Beyond that, Andrew and Jeannie were total blank slates. TPTB could have made them anything from well-heeled Brits to Hollywood brats. (Added benefit -- had they made James Scott's character Andrew, we could have avoided years of whining about EJami.) Also, nothing would have prevented TPTB from giving Kim more kids with Phillip. I have always assumed the biggest obstacle to doing anything with these characters was the TPTB's reluctance to bring back Patsy Pease for anything more than an episode or two after everything that happened in her final few years, but I think it would have been worth recasting the role to bring those characters back.

What happened to Patsy Pease in her final few years. The show had recast the role of Kim on 2 different occasions, one with Ann Howard who played Nicole on AW. It could've worked with the right actress. I would've also loved to see them bring in Andrew and Jeannie Donovan. How would they interact with their cousins and grandmother Caroline, what would they have been like. So many possibilities.

The last true opportunity to bring her back was when Frankie showed up pining away for Jennifer,,,,where was his WIFE Eve?

I don't think Charlotte Ross would ever come back to daytime, but even so, they could have recast. Frankie was wasted on Jenn/Jack. That was all they could write for him. I liked Frankie/Eve Donovan a lot. If BW and Julie Pinson weren't together in real life, I'd put Frankie with Billie.

Tina Lord on OLTL is another example. Though it was nice seeing her back after being gone for like 15 years. But I'd say more, since I'm still trying to block out the Krista Tesreau memories. That was even worse than no Tina at all.

What happened to Patsy Pease in her final few years. The show had recast the role of Kim on 2 different occasions, one with Ann Howard who played Nicole on AW. It could've worked with the right actress. I would've also loved to see them bring in Andrew and Jeannie Donovan. How would they interact with their cousins and grandmother Caroline, what would they have been like. So many possibilities.

From my understanding during Kim's DID/mental breakdown story, Patsy Pease was having a mental breakdown of her own. Someone who remembers better can help you with the details, but she had a very bad childhood and some severe personal problems and just sort of lost it. I believe she was also in ill health due to abuse she suffered as a child (I think she needed spinal? surgery) plus she was forced to play the death of her stillborn baby while pregnant. I think a combination of these things (and less than professional behavior on set) led to an immediate recast.

From my understanding during Kim's DID/mental breakdown story, Patsy Pease was having a mental breakdown of her own. Someone who remembers better can help you with the details, but she had a very bad childhood and some severe personal problems and just sort of lost it. I believe she was also in ill health due to abuse she suffered as a child (I think she needed spinal? surgery) plus she was forced to play the death of her stillborn baby while pregnant. I think a combination of these things (and less than professional behavior on set) led to an immediate recast.

I think that's about it.

Another World went to long without The Matthews presence, Josie Watts wasn't cutting it for me. The should have snatched up Mary Stuart to take on the role of the forgotten Matthews sister, Janet in the 90s. Kept Russ on and brought back Alice or Pat or even Liz's daughter.

I can go a little farther back with Days and mention Dougie LeClair, Sandy Horton, Tommy Horton, and Steve Olson.