For P&G Soaps Fans: How would YOU bring 'em back?

[Dale]

I wonder whatever happened with Soap Classics? After they announced the end of their relationship with P&G last fall, they announced via emails that they had big plans for something in the new year. Since then, nothing.

[DRW50]

I was trying to stay away from the overexposed people, or people who seem to be out of acting (like Lisa Brown), but I know it's not really a complete idea. I mostly just really want India and Amanda back...

[greens_dupres]

They were a great teen set although I hated that Will & Gwen were written way too old once they married them. But I think Zach and Alexandra have left soaps behind for now.

I have no big history with the CBS soaps although I cheated with them during bad ABC periods. It would be so awesome though if soap rebooting became a trend. I'm getting all verklempt just imagining it.

[cassadine1991]

me too.. I cheated on the ABC soaps with the CBS ones.. I totally agree Will/Gwen were written way too old, and they were in their late teens/early 20s.. I know I agree though The Lying Game and Vampire Diaries are basically soaps but people don't brand it that way..

I agree that was the last great teen scene on ATWT.. after they all left one by one, it wasn't as good

[jfung79]

I started to write a detailed first episode and first set of stories for GL, but then I clicked out of the page! No time to do it all over again but I will try to replicate some of it. The upshot is I would basically start with most of the final cast and build from there, because there was a lot of wasted potential frittered away by the "slice of life" writing of GL's final year and a half. I think 30 minutes, 4 episodes a week, would be good.

First episode:

I would start on another July 4th Bauer BBQ, but actually the first scene would be Josh and Reva at Cross Creek, with the "Always" scratch in the background. After a couple minutes, Reva would hear a doorbell, and open the door to Jonathan, delighted to see him. After some pleasantries, Jonathan would take Reva aside and say there's something he has to tell his mother. There's someone else she'll want to see. Reva asks, "Is it Sarah, did you bring her with you to see Lizzie?" Jonathan says no, Sarah is home in California with his wife. (Jonathan would have moved away from Springfield again.) Reva asks, "Then who?" Jonathan says, "I'd think you'd better sit down for this, Ma."

Cut to the BBQ. Leah is back home from college for summer vacation, introducing her boyfriend Mark (who is also African-American) who she met at college in Atlanta, to her family -- Ed and Holly, Danny and Michelle (who live out of town but are there for a visit), and Rick (divorced from Mindy, who is not in Sprngfield and not on canvas at first, but still friends with Rick). Clayton, Felicia, and Mel are also there in force and will be a major part of the show. They are all kind of grilling Mark and Mark is coming off well. As Rick is saying something corny, someone stumbles toward the center of the picnic area and falls down face down. Rick, Ed, or Mel jumps into doctor mode and turns the body around. It's Edmund Winslow - dead.

At the Spaulding residence, Emma, who is now a teen, is telling her dad she's glad he never made her get involved with Spaulding Enterprises. She wants to be a writer, not a businesswoman. Alexandra and Phillip chuckle. Olivia and Natalia come in, and Emma says she has to go; she and her moms need to get to the BBQ and they just stopped by to see Phillip because they hadn't been in awhile. Olivia is surprised Phillip isn't coming too -- is she really going to let what ever happened last week with Rick come between their friendship? (Not only do the viewers not know whatever this is that came between Phillip and Rick, Olivia and Natalia don't either.) Phillip doesn't want to talk about it. Beth agrees with Olivia and says, "Well, I'm going," and proceeds to leave for the BBQ. Phillip says, "Wait, Beth, there's something you need to know." While Olivia, Natalia, and Emma leave, Beth turns and pauses.

James, Rafe, Daisy, and Ashlee are all in a car together trying to get to the BBQ. They all went to a movie together and are late getting there. Rafe tells James to slow down. James gives him the finger. They all laugh. They pass by Company.

Inside Company, Buzz is telling Frank he just got off the phone with Harley in Greece. She wants Buzz to come visit Zach and Jude, they haven't seen him in years. Buzz tells Frank she had to tell her no because he couldn't afford it -- and he has a feeling Harley feels let down. Frank consoles his dad. Blake is nearby and is seen scribbling into a notepad, contemplative.

Back to Cross Creek, Reva asks Jonathan, "What is this about? You're scaring me." Jonathan tells her Jeffrey O'Neill didn't die five years ago. He was chasing Edmund and finally caught him. Jeffrey is in Jonathan's car now. Reva is shocked. Josh comes in to where Jonathan and Reva are. He wants to know what's happening. Reva looks like she's just seen a ghost. Reva tells Jonathan to take Jeffrey away, she doesn't want to see Jeffrey. "How long have you known, Jonathan? How could you keep this from me? How could he? Tell Jeffrey he is dead to me." Josh is all, "Jeffrey?" Then Reva hears Colin (if you remember, Jeffrey's 5-year-old son with Reva) making a noise in the other room. He's fallen down and stubbed and his toe. He's hurt She tears up. "We'll be right there, Colin. Your mom and ... dad will be right there."

Josh goes to see to Colin while Reva opens the door to go out to Jonathan's car. But Jeffrey is already standing there. Cliffhanger.

Generally:

- Leah, Mark, Rafe (back from the military, going to college, and now completely cool with having two mommies), Daisy (in grad school at Springfield U), James (also in grad school at Springfield U), a new character named Karan who is James's roommate and fellow student, and Ashlee (looking for work, having just graduated from college and not having gone to grad school, but still hanging out with all her old friends) headline the younger generation of the show. Emma is a little younger and still in high school, not interacting with this crowd as much, other than her relatives like James and Rafe, but has a story of her own.

- The Bauers, Spauldings, Lewises, and Coopers from the final cast would all be there. Also Otalia, Clayton, Felicia, Doris Wolfe (no longer DA or Mayor, and in private practice, used sparingly primarily as a mother figure for Ashlee), Cyrus Foley, Blake, Holly, and Ashlee. Billy would still be married to Vanessa, and both would still be on-canvas. Characters would rotate in and out of airtime and story as needed. I wouldn't have Matt Reardon around anymore, at least not at first. Danny and Michelle would be there for the initial Bauer BBQ but then go back to somewhere else, but Ed Bauer would stay (married to Holly like I said). Not sure about Fletcher Reade for Alexandra -- I don't know enough about him. Don't think I would have Remy and Christina (as the actors are now on B&B ). Lizzie would be recast since the actress is now on GH. Father Ray would still be around, primarily for weddings. Jonathan would come and go back to California. Shayne and Marina would be super super background - but Marina still a cop, her dad still Chief of Police.

- Dinah and Mallet, and maybe Harley, would come back after three months but not right away. Too much other story to wrap up from the old show first. Dinah and Mallet would still be together offscreen though.

- Main initial stories would be:

* Reva angry at Jeffrey for abandoning her and Colin to "protect" her. Reva choosing between Jeffrey and Joshua. Ultimately she chooses Josh but this needs to be wrapped up. Shayne and Jonathan throw in their two cents and help Reva choose -- Shayne speaking up for Josh, Jonathan for both Josh and Jeffrey. But Reva would be mad at Jonathan for keeping the secret from her so she wouldn't pay attention to him as much. This would lead him to accuse her of being a bad mother who is only interested in him when it suits her, one time, before he apologizes when she asks him what if I had kept that Tammy was alive from you? Ultimately they would reconcile. When Reva chooses Josh, Jeffrey leaves town even though Reva begs him not to for Colin's sake. Jeffrey says he lives a dangerous life and Josh is the only father Colin has known, but he may check in from time to time and Reva can bring Colin for visits if she wants. Reva is glad they haven't told Colin who Jeffrey is while she is deciding -- they've just been calling him "Uncle Jeffrey."

* Otalia struggling with Emma becoming a sexual being. They find themselves trying to stop Emma from going to parties or having any fun, and Emma is resentful. Olivia is overprotective because she had Ava so early in her life. Emma is a budding writer and slam poet. Rafe tries to mediate. After a few months, young love blossoms between Emma and a back-in-Springfield Jude Bauer. (This is when I wouldn't be sure whether Harley was coming back at the same time.)

* Rick and Phillip falling out over Rick finding out Phillip had killed Grady Foley. (This is the secret in the first episode.) Rick would struggle over whether to turn Phillip in and Phillip would be wracked by a guilty conscience but also justifying the murder to himself and mad at Rick. Rick would confide in Ed, who would be more sympathetic to Phillip. Beth would be trying to mediate. Cyrus would get involved at some point and, after some anger, forgive Phillip. Daisy would also be involved and pissed. Lizzie would be guilty her father did that but appreciate he was trying to protect her. Phillip would not go to jail. But the friendship between the Musketeers would be damaged for some time after that. Rick and Phillip might also have added tension from James trying to seduce Leah away from Mark when James gets tired of Daisy.

* Young love -- James and Daisy (who split up in the intervening five years over James being too much of a rich boy snob, but are finding their way back together again), Rafe (who has been calmed by the military discipline, but also turned very anti-war and anti-military-industrial-complex) and Ashlee (who gets Rafe like no other ... except Daisy), and Leah and Mark (both overachievers at college - they transfer to Springfield U when Leah's grandfather Clayton suffers a stroke and Leah feels she should stay in town) would all go on dates together and are all friends, at least at first. Inevitably, tensions develop as they develop feelings for each other and a couple of them are tempted to cheat.

- The young people also band together to fight military recruitment at Springfield U, which causes tension in the community as they are accused of being unpatriotic. Clayton half-jokingly asks Leah and Mark if they stayed in Springfield to help him recover or if they want to give him another stroke (as they are challenging the authorities of the school he was once the dean of and still has ties with). But many of the parents of the youth do not know how deep in they are to this cause, except for Olivia and Natalia who have a strong relationship with Rafe and support him 100%. As a veteran, Rafe is offended by accuastions that he is unpatriotic, and makes high-profile public appearances for their anti-recruitment cause. However, at one point another activist (an extra) makes a comment about "those murderers who sign up to kill other other people," and he is mad at his fellow activists too for their not understanding the sacrifices and motivations made by people who choose to serve. Karan tries to push the activists towards militant actions like breaking windows while Mark speaks up for nonviolence. There are suspicions that the FBI has infiltrated what once seemed like an innocent, hippie activist group to provoke militance; also sectarian conflict develops as Rafe's socialist, Karan's anarchist, and Leah and Mark's more left-liberal leanings clash.

* Blake uses thinly disguised Cooper family drama of Harley being pissed at Buzz as material for her next novel, which causes tension between her and Frank. Holly, who is generally otherwise healed from the scars of her life, disapproves of what Blake did. Olivia also disapproves. But Beth unexpectedly becomes good friends with Blake because Beth is a little disenchanted with Phillip and thinking about Coop after seeing how Phillip can get so bitter about Rick, and seeing Blake (who was Coop's agent) and reading about the Coopers in Blake's novel reminds her of Coop, the time Coop wrote a book about Beth. Jason and Kevin are now living out of town but we hear regular updates about them. One of them is gay. (They might come back later.)

* Spaulding Enterprises and Lewis Construction both hurting because of cutbacks in government contracts, especially Lewis. Bill, Billy, and Josh try to round up work but are forced to lay off employees, including a bitter Cyrus Foley (who's working for them), who is still seeing Mel and is now engaged to her. Cyrus refuses to take money from Mel and this causes tension in their relationship (far cry from the conman of old), but ultimately he takes money from her and they marry. (The day they marry, Leah catches the bouquet and Mark proposes marriage to Leah.) Buzz can give Cyrus a part-time job at Company but no more than that, due to the bad economy. Phillip resigns from Spaulding and lets Alexandra run it, training Lizzie, due to the stress of the Grady Foley thing as well as the shareholders being unhappy.

* Vanessa's TV station continues to air and breaks news. Vanessa is still hands-on; both she and Billy seriously consider retirement when Clayton has a stroke -- is life too short to be working all the time? -- and decide maybe soon, but not yet. They still want to be active. Holly is also still running her newspaper.

* Person that people most go to for trusted neutral advice is Lillian, who has reduced herself to part-time hours at the hospital and is easing into retirement. Father Ray, Ed, Buzz, Holly, Vanessa, Billy, Alex, Clayton, and Felicia are also sometimes consulted.

ATWT was left a mess by Jean P and I don't want to go there right now, but I might try later.

AW, there were a lot of great ideas in the AW Twitter Roleplay a few years ago, and I'm too tainted by them to come up with something fresh right now, but again, I might try later.

[NothinButAttitude]

He would've killed that show too way before ABC pulled the plug on it.

[DRW50]

I like a lot of your ideas. If I had any suggestions, they'd be:

- having Rick and Philip at odds over something besides Grady (I don't think Rick would care, as he's covered up much worse for Philip)

- the military campus protests (I don't think that type of social issue story suits GL)

- I don't think Jonathan and Reva would have a big fight over Jeffrey

I really like that you are working more with Clayton Boudreaux, and I like your ideas of cutbacks and how they affect the companies. I also like your attempts to give Blake more of a voice.

[cassadine1991]

How can ONE actor kill a show??

[DramatistDreamer]

I'm still waiting for the feature length film that was suggested when ABC pulled the plug.

[juniorz1]

YES! Dylan Bruce was SO solid as Chris. I was seriously pissed when the douchebag from Van Wilder was hired. So miscast, so awful, so much hate!

[P.J.]

Hey....Cosgrove got no chance to develop Chris in the last six months of ATWT. I'm sure, that had he had the time, Chris would have grown. I thought his stint as Bill on GL was tremendous.

And I'm sorry---the only reason Bruno looked adequate in the role was the fact it had been so miscast with the likes of Korver and Jorgensen.

[juniorz1]

I just don't agree. I've always found DC flat and never more flat than on ATWT.

DB, on the other hand, actually defined the Chris Hughes character and made him interesting. At first, I thought he was just another pretty face, but he grew on me and Chris actually became one of my favorite characters at the time. I was SO disappointed when he was let go. Hell, he even made Marnie Schulenberg seem interesting.

[Soapsuds]

Dylan Bruce, Bailey Chase and Paul Korver in that order were my favorites as Chris.

I never like Cosgrove in the role or any other soap role for that matter. He is too bland of an actor for my tastes.

[NothinButAttitude]

It's a running joke with Cosgrove that he's a showkiller. It isn't true; HOWEVER, when he does join shows, they do tend to die. I'm just saying. . .

Beverly Hills 90210

Guiding Light

As the World Turns

All My Children

I loved him as Bill on GL, but I didn't care for him as Chris. It was like he plays Bill all over again but on World Turns.

Glad someone sees what I see. I loved Dylan as Chris. He just had this edge and sex appeal that totally went against the traditional Hughes male.

[cassadine1991]

he was on GL and AMC before... I say it's pretty unfair

but I do agree Dylan Bruce was a GREAT Chris, I don't get why they fired him.. ATWT from 2007-2010, what happened to it