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When real life gets in the way


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Did GL have to rewrite any Hart stories after Leonard Stabb’s hang gliding accident? I remember the transition between Stabb and the temp Sean McDermott was pretty immediate, but McDermott only lasted a few months before they put the character on hiatus. I’m assuming they had long term story for Hart they simply scrapped.

Edited by Faulkner
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I realize that Benjamin Hendrickson was mentioned up thread but real talk: how did the producers/writers not see how sick BH was? 

I've been watching (or trying to watch) episodes from around the era that he died (mostly 2006/07) and it's so obvious that he looked unwell, I mean several months before his eventual suicide.  

It was also well known that he lost his mother after being her main caretaker since he took time off to do it.  Why plow ahead with a brutal storyline like the death of Jennifer?

Was it because they saw how Y&R killed off Cassie Newman and ATWT hoped that by killing off their own redhead, they'd achieve the same storyline success?

IMO, that was so unnecessary for so many reasons but the same could be said for a lot of the stories in those final years.

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I recall Wendy Moniz when she debuted as Dinah in 1995 said in an interview that she had auditioned for a Dinah recast back in 1993 to be a new love interest for Hart, but when Leonard Stabb had his accident and couldn't return... the plans to recast Dinah were put on hold

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1993 was such a dark year for soaps. The year started with Santa Barbara going off the air. Michael David Morrison, Joy Garrett, and Doug Marland all died within a month of each other (MDM and JG within a week of each other). Leonard Stabb had his near-fatal accident. GL killed off Maureen Bauer, which almost seemed like a real death. It really felt like the beginning of the end.

 

I also wondered what would have happened to Mary Mae and the Wards if Rosalind Cash had lived longer. I don’t think Guza would have had much use for her.

Edited by Faulkner
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The team in place when he arrived, left, and returned was very different to what was there when he and Pratt returned to the show under JFP.  Not just Riche, but the other writers were more invested in other parts of the canvas.  I’m not saying he would have used her correctly, but I think she would have been used.

 

It wasn’t until Riche was gone that he got to indulge all his wishes without pushback or more input.  It was pretty clear when he came back with Pratt and they were given producer credits that JFP didn’t have the same kind of power over him that Riche had.

 

I have such a fondness for his initial run and the first year or so of his return.  For all his awful instincts on which characters to focus the show around, he was a talented writer.  He drove me off the show as a viewer, but I can’t deny that when he was good he was very good.

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I dunno. Certainly, Justus killing Damian was a meaty storyline (that was Guza, right?), but allowing Laura to take the heat while he served as her lawyer ultimately marginalized him. And Keesha went poof when Jason Quartermaine became Jason Morgan. Maybe if RC had lived, the Wards would have continued to be a unit, albeit one with less airtime. (Or maybe she’d be written as a Sonny apologist.) For me, he seemed far less committed to a diverse Port Charles even in that early run. Don’t get me wrong: I enjoyed Guza’s early runs, but they certainly offered disturbing glimpses of what the show would become in the JFP era.

Edited by Faulkner
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I always felt that Beverlee McKinsey's presence was sorely missed on AW at the climax of the Janice/Mac story in St. Croix.  Weeks earlier McKinsey had hurt herself hanging drapes and was written off the show for weeks.  Iris was temporarily played by Carol Shelley when Janice was killed by Rachel, but the scenes where Iris learned the truth about Janice and the aftermath lacked the depth and history McKinsey would have brought to the scenes.  Shelley's Iris was shrieking and over the top in these scenes.

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I think all her roles suffered under recasts, either temporary or permanent.  She had something special, and it was hard to capture by anyone but her.

 

When Genie Francis left for her maternity leave on GH, she just didn’t come back.  For quite a long time.  She and Geary had both been displeased with Culliton’s work once Guza’s plots ran out, and her not returning affected lots of stuff.  

 

The show attempted to get her back earlier, she was rumored to be the person to nurse Nikolas back to health after the shooting, not Robin, but she wasn’t ready yet.

 

Also a real life thing that affected Genie was when she was on AMC, and ABC, not the creative team on All My Children ended her contract.  They wanted her back on GH about a year before she finally agreed, and pushed her off AMC to do it.  So it derailed some things in motion at AMC.

Edited by titan1978
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OLTL - When Clint Ritchie had his tractor accident they wrote the character of Clint off the canvas as recovering from a plane crash, hence out of the Viki/Sloan story.

GH - When Luke & Laura returned in the early 90s, with Frank Smith still after them, I think TPTB intended to continue their adventure-type stories but then Genie became pregnant. I think that's when Laura became Mother Earth a la Mary Mae Ward.

Michael Zaslow's ALS diagnosis and eventual death impacted both GL and OLTL.

AMC - Louis Edmonds' death wasn't addressed for years but since they didn't recast Langley, he was forever on expeditions. As an aside, I always thought it kind of a shame that he never got the tribute treatment other actors, particularly on AMC, got when they passed away (Herlie, Heflin, Mitchell, Warrick).

DAYS - One of Mary Beth Evans' pregnancies resulted in Kayla being drugged, lying in a bed in the Devereaux mansion.
 

Edited by applcin
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I considered a topic just on best/worst maternity leave plots. 

 

My worse would be when Hayley Vaughn (AMC) had been kidnapped and buried up to her neck in order to hide Kelly Ripa's real life pregnancy. 

 

Wasn't there an NBC soap that had a non-pregnant character (played by a pregnant actress) go to a weight loss clinic as their maternity leave story?  I know ATWT did the spa story and I know that the AW actresses playing both Blaine and Paulina had weight issues post-pregnancy but, in the vague recesses of my mind I recall a soap using a weight loss clinic as a method for explaining a character's leave of absence and that it was thought of by the soap press as funny.

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I wouldn't assume they didn't know Ben was having trouble. But tptb also can't rework plot to suit everyone's emotional well being. I believe it was Ferrin's choice to leave, and not an attempt to mimic YR. It was just an unfortunate confluence of events. 

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Speaking of pregnancies, Patsy Pease said she couldn't play out a miscarriage plot for Kim as she was pregnant at the time. Anne Howard came in. Patsy later said she had a very, very difficult birth, so I guess she made the right decision.

Edited by DRW50
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Wait, did you mean not to assume that they did or didn't know?  Maybe it's just me but he looked unwell for a good six months before he died when you look at the videos. 

How far in advance was their taping schedule.  

The storyline was so poor though, it's unfortunate that they didn't just send the character off the canvas. Perhaps Jennifer could've beat a hasty retreat with her baby in tow with only Barbara truly knowing where she went, hiding the information from even Hal.

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