Recasts on shows: good, bad, in between

[Quent]

As The World Turns:

 

The Good:

 - I loved Margaret Colin, and swore I'd stop watching when she left, but replacement Hilary Smith ended up being my favorite Margo Hughes.

 - Everyone knows Julianne Moore was fantastic as Frannie Hughes, but I also enjoyed Mary Ellen Stuart when she took over. Very natural acting style.

 - Scott Holroyd was perfect as Paul Ryan, combining all the hero qualities with all the conflicts of having The Devil as his father.

 

The In-Between:

 - Kelley Menighan(?)-was very durable and long-lasting as Emily, and usually a good actress, but she lacked the natural sex appeal that Melanie Smith had.

 - Scott Holmes was a journeyman actor who  made Tom Hughes a reliable member of Oakdale, but he didn't have the charisma that Gregg Marx had.

 - Graham Winton was also a good actor and better looking than Michael Morrison, but he had none of MM's fire and edginess.

 

The Bad:

 - Susan Batten may have fit her role on OLTL, but she could not have been more miscast than as Connor. 

 - If Hunt Block had chewed any more scenery , there would be no more sets at ATWT. The hammiest actor I've ever seen, he had NONE of Scott Bryce's finesse to go from Villain to Hero and everything in-between. 

 - As cartoonish as Block was, at least he was still entertaining. Jon Lindstrom committed the cardinal sin of making Craig Montgomery boring.

 - And now, the Worst Of The Worst: Roger Howarth as Todd/Franco/Paul...because they're all the same. He basically has two acting styles..the blank stare, and the sputtering manic rant. How they could fire the wonderful Scott Holroyd and replace him with Howarth is beyond me.

[pdm1974]

I think CC #2 only lasted about a month!

A tale of four Thornes....Out of the four actors playing Thorne on B&B, who do you think was the most successful? I always found it odd that they just couldn't seem to get this character to take off.

[Efulton]

 

Rhonda Lewin played Vicky after Ellen Wheeler.  I really liked her (I think I am the only one) and thought she should have been given more time in the role.  However, if that happened we may never have had Anne Heche!  At around the same time Rhonda Lewin was hired Nicole was recast with Lauri Landry.  I really liked her in the role then both Nicole and Vicky disappeared without any mention.  Both roles were recast months later.  It was rather strange.

[j swift]

I feel like Dan Gauthier's Kevin is in a similar boat with Laurence Lau's Jamie (AW).  They both played a completely new iteration of the part, but their charm made their characters appealing.   Stephen Yate's Jamie (and those cutoff shorts that are forever burned in my memory) was my favorite because he was the most like male-version of Rachel; a little neurotic, a little artsy, driven by jealousy.  So, when Larry Lau came on as Dr. Jamie it seemed like a totally different character.

 

Yes, Rhonda Lewin, September 23, 1986 - December 29, 1986, the Vicky who almost slept with her uncle

 

 

Edited April 24, 2019 by j swift

[LostinHarmony]

I think we can all agree most of the PASSIONS recasts got worse and worse but I’m curious where you guys fall with Travis Schuldt and Eric Martsolf. 

 

Natalie Zea’s version of Gwen was the only time I sympathized for that character .

 

So unfortunate David Bailey passed. I preferred him as Alistair. John Reilly’s portrayal seemed to cartoonish and at that point I wish they had left the character faceless.

 

Chrystee Pharris seems like a nice person but boy did her version of Simone grate me. Preferred Lena Cardwell.

[danfling]

The first Mr. Sanders on One Life to Live (I cannot remember the first name of the characters) was Michael Billington.   He was only on one episode before the late Peter Brown replaced him.   (His picture was on the opening, though, in more than that single episode.)

[Emma1420]

Recasts I loved:

 

Rick Hearst as Alan-Michael on GL.   

Wendy Moniz as Dinah on GL.  

Genie Francis as Laura on GH.

 

With all three of them, they took established characters and took them into adulthood.   And they took characters that from my point of view were fine, if not a little bland to complex and interesting.

 

Recasts I hated:

 

Jacob Young as Lucky Spencer on GH...my eardrums took years to recover.  The fact he won an emmy for his work there is disturbing.

Pretty much any recast on ATWT after about 2000.  Basically because every "recast" was really a new character with the old character's name and history.  Hunt Block wasn't playing Craig, he was playing some guy with the same name.  The same was true of Grayson McCouch's Dusty.  I'm not opposed to characters changing and/or evolving or devolving, but they should at least have the same core.  They shouldn't seem like a complete stranger.

 

 

Most recasts fall more in the middle for me.  And I think for some recasts their success is largely dependent on if the writer of the show or the EP thinks they are worth writing for.  

 

 

[John]

GH:

Dawn #1, Kim Valentine January 1989-June 1989

 

Dawn #2 Sharon Case June 1989-February 1990

 

Dawn #3 Lisa Fuller February -April 1990

 

Dawn #4  April 1990-March 1991

Jennifer Guthrie

Owen Beckman was the Daniel that never made it to air on YR. He was replaced quickly & MG retapped his scenes

There were three Sharons on YR

Monica Potter June-July 1994

Heidi Mark July-Sept 1994

Sharon Case Sept 1994-

[j swift]

Amusingly, Owen Beckman has his Y&R publicity photo on IMDB, but not the credit https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2124304/

 

I had forgotten ATWT had so many Lucy Montgomerys ( Amanda Seyfried (1999–2001), Peyton List (2001–05), Spencer Grammer (2006), Sarah Glendening (2008–10)

and Jennifer Munsons ( Michelle Ann Nemeh (1990–91), Sara Garney (1992–93), Brianne Sassone (1993–95), Alexandra Herzog (1995–99), Kim Onasch (1999–2002), Jennifer Ferrin (2003–06)) - dates from wiki unverified 

Edited April 24, 2019 by j swift

[John]

This one?

[Jagger1966]

Ryan's Hope had a LOT of recasts during its 13.5 year run.

 

Mary Ryan Fenelli-Kate Mulgrew was beloved in the role.  Her first replacement Mary Carney was a good actress but being a theater actress she tended to shout her lines.  Then came Kathleen Tolan who I thought was just awful in the role.  The final Mary was the late Nicolette Goulet who I really liked but unfortunately no one could ever really replace Kate Mulgrew so the character was distpatched.

 

Frank Ryan-Michael Hawkins was the first Frank and I thought he was one of the worst actors I'd ever seen.  Frank #2 Andrew Robinson was slightly better but I think #3 Daniel Hugh-Kelly really brought that character to life.  Two more Franks followed him, Geoffrey Pierson, a very good actor who has had a nice career and finally John Sanderford who I also really liked in the role.

 

Siobhan Ryan -Original Siobhan Sarah Felder was a breath of fresh air.  Don't know why she left but Siobhan #2 Ann Gillespie was decent.  Everyone remembers that Marg Helgenberger was Siobhan #3.  She was there for 4 years and really made the role her own.  The final 2 actresses in the role, Carell Myers and Barbara Blackburn were ok actresses but they never felt like Siobhan to me.

 

Patrick Ryan-No one could ever match Malcome Groome's Patrick.  Of his 3 successors, John Blazo, Robert Finoccoli and Patrick James Clarke, Blazo is the only one I even remember.  I didn't think he was too bad but he did not win over viewers.

 

Faith Coleridge-I liked all the Faiths.  Faith Catlin, Nancy Barrett, Catherine Hicks and Karen Morris-Gowdy.  Most people seem to prefer Hicks, but Karen Morris-Gowdy was my choice for best Faith.

 

Delia Reid Ryan Ryan Coleridge Crane Coleridge-This was Ilene Kristen's role to be sure.  Her first successor Robyn Millan was awful and thankfully short-lived.  Delia #3 Randall Edwards did a great job in the role and even got an emmy nomination.  She left in 1982 and Kristen returned only to leave again in '83.  In 1984 the wonderful Robin Mattson was cast but the general consensus, which I agree with, is that she was mis-cast in the part.  Luckily Ilene Kristen returned in 1986 and stayed until the end.

 

There were also numerous re-casts of Joe Novak and Nancy Feldman as well as Little John Ryan and Ryan Fenelli although once the characters were aged to near adulthood Jason Adams and Yasmine Bleeth played the roles until the end of the series.

[pdm1974]

This might be a bit controversial...it sounds like he was a nightmare on set, but I enjoyed Robert Kelker-Kelly's Bo much more than Peter Reckell's. The character under RKK was more complex, a bit darker, and he's what got me into DAYS during that time.

[amybrickwallace]

 

Don't forget Lloyd Bochner, who was originally cast as CC. He got sick right before taping was to start, and thus was replaced at the last minute with Peter Mark Richman. Thankfully, they eventually got Jed Allan and the rest is history.

[pdm1974]

Oh wow! I didn't know there was yet ANOTHER CC before the show even aired.

 

Out of all the SB recasts, who do you think was the MOST successful in their role?

[amybrickwallace]

 

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To answer your question about SB's best recast, I have to say Jed Allan. Second place would go to Carrington Garland.

Edited April 25, 2019 by amybrickwallace