Backstage Mysteries: Forever Unsolved

[DRW50]

I've never understood the Fulton issue either - it did seem like personal dislike to me.

Another I've never understood is what exactly happened with Tom Eplin.

[antmunoz]

Reportedly, Tom Eplin's contract was with P&G and had to be fulfilled, which necessitated his move to another show. When the contract was up, Jake was up.

I woujd imagine his weight gain didn't help matters.

Too bad. Molly crashed and burned after his departure.

[DRW50]

You're right...it just always seemed odd to me because they'd given him a big splashy wedding only a few months before.

Another was the clear animosity Goutman must have felt toward Martha Byrne after her contract talks broke down, to the point where he wouldn't let her return for the final months, even when Noelle Beck agreed to leave and talked about how difficult it was for Jon Hensley to work at the end without Byrne in the role.

[cassadine1991]

Is that also why they killed off Jensen Buchanan's Vicky and the other AW characters crossing over

[titan1978]

I though at the time Jensen was only there to help bring Jake to Oakdale. She had been on her way out for years at AW and kept staying due to the perks of her contract anyway. It's like she kept adding a new outrageous item and TPTB gave it to her so she decided to stay.

The thing that stands out to me is that Goutman did not like outspoken. Fulton questioned the show, and the more she did it the less she was onscreen. Martha did it and he chose to keep her off the show to wrap things up. I think it is pretty clear Eplin pissed him off, so they invested a ton of time into Hake then killed him off. It seems with What I have read about Eplin and Martha, they thought they were in a contract negotiation but instead it was the one offer or leave.

I'm just happy that of all the showkillers, Goutman is not the EP of a soap anymore.

[BetterForgotten]

I couldn't care any less about Martha Byrne.

#TeamHeatherRattray

[vetsoapfan]

UGH! I still want to slap him for that!

[vetsoapfan]

Yes, Goutman looked particularly spiteful and childish about the Byrne situation. The SHOW in its final days should have taken precedence, not his ego and temper.

[Soapsuds]

I've got to give Noelle Beck a lot of credit/class to agree to leave/step away for Martha to return.

And this after Martha pretty much kissed his sorry ass at the Emmys after winning her Emmy. I thought she went overboard with her speech about him. Hogan was the one that go her that Emmy with the Rose double storyline. How quick their happiness lasted.

Ditto….I was spoiled for Heather Rattray. I thought she made a better Lilly. Its a shame she didn't up her contract.

[DRW50]

Another one - just what allegedly happened with Maeve Kinkead and Paul Rauch at AW.

[Scrapple]

Another mystery from the ATWT final days: Why pair Katie with Chris Hughes, when such a match was obviously forced and chemistry-free? If Brad was no longer an option, give the public what they wanted, Katie and Simon.

Going WAY back, why did Dark Shadows let it's original leading lady,Alexandra Moltke, go? Then they brought on two others actresses to play Victoria Winters, both of whom crashed and burned.

[DRW50]

The talk was that Alexandra was tired of playing a victim, and when she got pregnant, she and Dan Curtis mutually agreed to her exit. It's a shame, as I think the present day episodes fell to pieces without Victoria at the center of them.

[titan1978]

When did she leave GL? I think it was under his watch. I just can't remember if she went recurring or quit. Which was a shame either way.

These shows invest so much time putting anyone but the people we want to see onscreen. Would Guiding Light or ATWT have survived with stories and more scenes for their beloved veterans? No, I thin P&G wanted out. But I think they could have lasted longer, had better endings and stronger years towards the end. Same with AMC. It basically took a terrible Sci-Fi plot bringing back dead characters to make the town seem like Pine Valley again.

I look at Days right now, and I see every single thing that kills soaps. A clueless EP, and 2 hacks as show runners (I like Meng as a person, but he and Lisa are producing crap shows with little energy and no style). A HW who pushes his agenda and his favorite characters even when his audience has eroded. The decision to bring in so many new characters over the last two years, and hampering them with such terrible story there was no way to root for them or want them to stay. An unwillingness to look at what is working, and write for that. A waste of the vets they have on contract. The terrible production model, that gives them no way to make an adjustment until it is too late. And finally, there is a lack of energy on screen. The show is lifeless, and reminds me so much of what ATWT was like the last 2 years it was still on the air.

[DRW50]

Maeve left GL a number of times - she was supposed to be gone in fall 1996 (before he arrived), then she continued on for several years before leaving in 2000. I know he complained that Matt/Vanessa fans were never happy, and I do think he gave them a few OK stories, but there was some stuff that did make me wonder if there was still animosity (like when they kept having Beth tell her how old she was and how much plastic surgery she needed).

[vetsoapfan]

Oh God, yes! I want to know that too.

In her autobiography, Ellen Holly wrote about once being kicked out of her dressing room by ABC, to accommodate a new star coming on to OLTL. While some of Holly's stories about her abuse on the show stretch credibility, I am curious whether or not this really happened, and what star would warrant this sort of favoritism.