This isn't about the day-players or the characters on shows already cancelled, but the once-vital, popular and beloved characters on currently running soaps that we haven't seen in a long time and probably won't see again.

I'll start with B&B:

Sheila Carter

Clarke Garrison

Jackie Marone

Anyone else you have in mind...

Y&R:

Keemo Abbott

Snapper Foster

Greg Foster

Chris Brooks Foster

Lorie Brooks

Leslie Brooks

Lucas Prentiss

Lance Prentiss

Julia Newman

Matt Newman

Gina Romalatti

Drucilla Barber

Olivia Barber

Nate Barber

Phillip Chancellor III & IV

Tommy Horton on DAYS, who went unmentioned when his on-screen father Tom Horton passed away, AND when his onscreen mother, Alice Horton, died.

Although Tommy was the eldest of the Horton boys (he and his twin sister, Addie, were Tom's and Alice's first born children), during the eulogy for Tom Horton, Sr., Alice referred to Mickey as their eldest child. Either the writers were careless and made an error, or we are supposed to assume that Tommy is dead.

He is officially in limbo, just like when he went upstairs to bed in the 1970s, never came back down, and went unmentioned by his family for years, LOL.

Y&R:

Keemo Abbott

Snapper Foster

Greg Foster

Chris Brooks Foster

Lorie Brooks

Leslie Brooks

Lucas Prentiss

Lance Prentiss

Julia Newman

Matt Newman

Gina Romalatti

Drucilla Barber

Olivia Barber

Nate Barber

Phillip Chancellor III & IV

I agree with this list 100%. Y&R has thrown their history out the window, especially the 70's characters/plot lines. Paul, Nikki and Jill are the only characters left from that era.

GH-

Jeff Webber

Anne Logan

Colton Shore

Grant Putnam

Celia Quartermaine

Jimmy Lee Holt

Lois Cerullo

V

Laura Spencer

Y&R

Drucilla Barber

Chance

Mac

Sheila Carter

Days

Tony Dimera (is he dead?)

Peter Blake

Carrie Brady

Vivian Alamain

Carly Manning

Jonah Carver

I agree with this list 100%. Y&R has thrown their history out the window, especially the 70's characters/plot lines. Paul, Nikki and Jill are the only characters left from that era.

But that is the way Bill Bell wanted it. If you started watching around 1985, you would not really know anything about that era, except Jill's affair and betrayal of Katherine.

I wonder whether Bill Bell Sr. would have liked the idea that Jill is no longer a Foster? Or would he have cared since most of those characters were dumped in the 80s anyway? If he were still in charge, would he have eventually dumped the Newman and Abbotts and started with all new families the way he dumped the Brooks and Fosters?

I know that's a question without an answer but I'm truly curious.

Edited January 29, 201511 yr by DramatistDreamer

GH: Blackie Parish

DOOL: Steve/Patch

Days

Sarah Horton

Neil Curtis

Tommy Horton on DAYS, who went unmentioned when his on-screen father Tom Horton passed away, AND when his onscreen mother, Alice Horton, died.

Although Tommy was the eldest of the Horton boys (he and his twin sister, Addie, were Tom's and Alice's first born children), during the eulogy for Tom Horton, Sr., Alice referred to Mickey as their eldest child. Either the writers were careless and made an error, or we are supposed to assume that Tommy is dead.

He is officially in limbo, just like when he went upstairs to bed in the 1970s, never came back down, and went unmentioned by his family for years, LOL.

Didn't he return in 1980 and was said to be living in Hawaii??

Days

Sarah Horton

Neil Curtis

Don't mention the GH Characters, please! Ron will find a way to bring them back and make them villains!

Edited January 29, 201511 yr by Dr Neil Curtis

I wonder whether Bill Bell Sr. would have liked the idea that Jill is no longer a Foster? Or would he have cared since most of those characters were dumped in the 80s anyway? If he were still in charge, would he have eventually dumped the Newman and Abbotts and started with all new families the way he dumped the Brooks and Fosters?

I know that's a question without an answer but I'm truly curious.

I have the feeling that Bell wouldn't have liked his history/back story being screwed with. When the Jill/Mother daughter thing was done, he was already suffering with Alzheimers and had no control over storylines.

Bell was kind of funny about the shows past. He would go years not mentioning something, then bam out of the blue he would throw something in to catch you off guard. Some examples are:

* After Billy was born in the early 90's, Jill goes to answer the door and Liz Foster is standing there. Kay then shows up and asks why Jill hasn't told her mother about her grandchild. Jill tells her mother she is going to name him William Foster after her father.

* When Nikki was going to marry Brad, Jack and Ashley were discussing the upcoming nuptials and Jack blurts out Nikki Reed Foster Bancroft Di Salvo Abbott soon to be Carlton. I remember shortly after that aired, someone wrote in to Soap Opera Digest wanting to know about all of Nikki's husbands before Victor.

* After years of not being mentioned, Bug(Christine) is over at Mary's looking at a photo album and exclaims "That's a pretty girl" and Mary say's "That's your sister in law dear" and they zoom in on a photo of Lilibet Stern as Patty They also started talking about her horrible marriage to Jack. On Paul & Christine's wedding day they show a blonde woman from behind making a phone call to the Williams home, but everyone has done left.

* When Ashley had her mental breakdown and was put in the hospital, the same 3 women who were room mates with Leslie Brooks and tormented her years earlier were in with Ashley.

* When David Kimble wanted plastic surgery he asked the doctor to make him look like David Hasselhoff (Snapper).

Wrong thread

Edited January 29, 201511 yr by John

Didn't he return in 1980 and was said to be living in Hawaii??

The last time I personally remember seeing Tommy onscreen, was in 1976, when Pat Falken Smith was writing the show. He was mentioned later, but I don't recall actually seeing him. (After Falken Smith's exit, I lost interest in the series and watched it infrequently, so Tommy may have appeared without my knowing it.)

There were tentative talks about a DAYS spin-off, regarding Tommy's branch of the family living in Hawaii, but nothing ever materialized, and the character was (as far as I know) never mentioned again. As a longtime viewer, I found his absence from both his parents' funerals to be quite galling. The writers should have at least referred to him, mentioning that he had died years ago offscreen.

When Bert Bauer passed away on TGL, we never saw Meta, Mike, Hope, Steve Jackson, or anyone else who should have been there, and when Nancy Hughes died on ATWT, there was lots of Katie (vomit), but no mention of Penny, Don, or Ellen. Sloppy writing drives me crazy.

The last time I personally remember seeing Tommy onscreen, was in 1976, when Pat Falken Smith was writing the show. He was mentioned later, but I don't recall actually seeing him. (After Falken Smith's exit, I lost interest in the series and watched it infrequently, so Tommy may have appeared without my knowing it.)

Tommy's last appearance was in March 1980, following the infamous Saint Valentine's Day Massacre by Fred Silverman, Al Rabin, and Nina Laemmle. He returned for a single episode, celebrating Tom and Alice's fiftieth wedding anniversary. Sadly, it was the end of an era.

What's the infamous Saint Valentine's Day

Massacre