Recasts on shows: good, bad, in between

[Paul Raven]

How is he a recast when he was the only adult Phillip?

[bboy875]

Did anyone see any episodes of Kathryn Hays' brief run as Leslie Jackson Bauer on GL? Any idea of why her run was brief and what part of Leslie's story she played? 

[Joseph]

I asked about it a while back Try going back a couple of pages

Anyone know Where I could find ATWT  episodes with Jennifer Bassey As Lisa??? She's the only one I think I'm still missing

As For Recasts, Seems Like soaps have been doing well with this lately, the last five Recasts I Remember happening ultimately worked: Ashland Locke, Summer Newman Abbott, Dr. Taylor Hayes Forrester, Tucker McCall Seems to be Working, Alley Mills as Heather I guess is still too soon

[Paul Raven]

Before my time and magazines at the time were months behind what was happening on air , so Kathryn had probably come and gone before they had a chance to cover it.

Maybe vetsoapfan or danfling may have seen and remembered her?

Kathryn was new to daytime and Lynne Adams had been popular as Leslie so maybe it just wasn't the right fit.

Meanwhile Barabara Rodell, who had been popular as Lee on AW and Jill on SS was available and maybe they thought she was a better fit. I know she moved straight from AW to SS but how long between SS and GL?

 

[Noel]

I don't know Paul Raven. I'm reading the original post and there are no rules stating the recasts have to be adult actors. Why do you care? 

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Edited November 23, 2022 by Noel

[Marissa Gallant]

I actually forgot that Peggy McCay was not the original Caroline Brady. So, that’s a great recast too.

[bboy875]

I went back a few pages and nothing answers any of my questions 

[Joseph]

Forget Again, She Was The Original! You're probably confusing because she vacated the role in 1984, and only Returned in mid 1985

[Liberty City]

Following the [general] classification of @Noel, I am classifying The Good as "self-explanatory," The Bad" as "considered tolerable" (or in my case I'm stuck with them) and The Ugly as those as "loathe" (a.k.a. I don't want to ever watch them again), however, I will not be classifying SORAS'd roles, unless within the same age bracket (like young teen to older teen, etc). I'm also trying to steer clear of temporary recasts (a.k.a. pinch-hitters). And yes, I went off, haha.

The Good

• Robert Adamson (Noah, Y&R)
• Jed Allan (C.C., SB)
• Krista Allen (Taylor, B&B)
• Brandon Barash (Stefan, DAYS)
• Diana Barton (Mari Jo, Y&R)
• Charles Bateman (C.C., SB)
• Jaime Lyn Bauer (Laura, DAYS)
• Peter Bergman (Jack, Y&R)
• Hunt Block (Craig, ATWT)
• Raven Bowens (Chanel, DAYS)
• Tamara Braun (Carly, GH)
• Dylan Bruce (Chris, ATWT)
• Lachlan Buchanan (Kyle, Y&R)
• Martha Byrne (Lily, ATWT)
• Sharon Case (Sharon, ATWT)
• Beth Chamberlin (Beth, GL)
• Judith Chapman (Gloria, Y&R)
• Bailey Chase (Chris, ATWT)
• Eddie Cibrian (Cole, SUNBEACH)
• Mark Collier (Mike, ATWT)
• Daniel Cosgrove (Scott, AMC; Chris, ATWT)
• Brooks Darnell (Nate, Y&R)
• Justin Deas (Tom, ATWT)
• Tom Degnan (Adam, ATWT; Joey, OLTL)
• Sean Dominic (Nate, Y&R)
• Jerry Douglas (John, Y&R)
• Ellen Dolan (Margo, ATWT)
• Carmen Duncan (Iris, AW)
• Marj Dusay (Alexandra, GL; Pamela, SB)
• Brenda Epperson (Ashley, B&B)
• Judi Evans (Paulina, AW; Adrienne, DAYS)
• Mary Beth Evans (Kayla, DAYS)
• Nathan Fillion (Joey, OLTL)
• Pierson Fodé (Thomas, B&B)
• Nicole Forester (Cassie, GL)
• Carrington Garland (Kelly, SB)
• Dan Gauthier (Kevin, OLTL)
• Sarah Glendening (Marisa, AMC; Lucy, ATWT)
• Deidre Hall (Hattie, DAYS)
• Van Hansis (Luke, ATWT)
• Don Hastings (Bob, ATWT)
• Scott Holmes (Tom, ATWT)
• Scott Holroyd (Paul, ATWT)
• Roger Howarth (Paul, ATWT; Franco, GH)
• Sean Kanan (AJ, GH)
• Lesli Kay (Felicia, B&B)
• Thorsten Kaye (Ridge, B&B)
• Elizabeth Keifer (Blake, GL)
• Abigail Klein (Stephanie, DAYS)
• Victoria Konefal (Ciara, DAYS)
• Lauren Koslow (Kate, DAYS)
• Allison Lanier (Summer, Y&R)
• Bethany Joy Lenz (Mchelle, GL)
• Terry Lester (Mason, SB)
• Jen Lilley (Maxie, GH)
• Jon Lindstrom (Craig, ATWT)
• William Lipton (Cameron, GH)
• Natalia Livingston (Taylor, DAYS)
• Kyle Lowder (Rex, DAYS)
• Martha Madison (Belle, DAYS)
• Billy Magnussen (Casey, ATWT)
• Kate Mansi (Abigail, DAYS)
• Eric Martsolf (Brady, DAYS)
• Chandler Massey (Will, DAYS)
• Robin Mattson (Heather, GH)
• Michael Mealor (Kyle, Y&R)
• Cady McClain (Dixie, AMC; Rosanna, ATWT; Jennifer, DAYS; Kelly, Y&R)
• Judith McConnell (Sophia, SB)
• Kelly Menighan (Emily, ATWT)
• Billy Miller (Jason, GH)
• Marci Miller (Abigail, DAYS)
• Wendy Moniz (Dinah, GL)
• Julianne Moore (Frannie/Sabrina, ATWT)
• Michael Muhney (Adam, Y&R)
• Robert Newman (Kirk, SB; Ashland, Y&R)
• Melissa Ordway (Abby, Y&R)
• Ellen Parker (Maureen, GL)
• Austin Peck (Austin, DAYS)
• Jon Prescott (Mike, ATWT)
• Elaine Princi (Dorian, OLTL)
• Ron Raines (Alan, GL)
• Emme Rylan (Lulu, GH; Lizzie, GL)
• Marnie Schulenburg (Alison, ATWT)
• Coltin Scott (Nikolas, GH)
• Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki, Y&R)
• Kimberley Simms (Mindy, GL)
• Peter Simon  (Ed, GL)
• Erika Slezak (Viki, OLTL)
• Nancy St. Alban (Michelle, GL)
• Sherry Stringfield (Blake, GL)
• Mary Ellen Stuart (Frannie/Sabrina, ATWT)
• Tammin Sursok (Colleen, Y&R)
• Jason Thompson (Billy, Y&R)
• Zach Tinker (Sonny, DAYS)
• Gina Tognoni (Dinah, GL; Phyllis, Y&R)
• Heather Tom (Katie, B&B; Kelly, OLTL)
• Justin Torkildsen (Rick, Y&R)
• Constance Towers (Helena, GH)
• Mark Valley (Jack, DAYS)
• Greg Vaughan (Eric, DAYS; Lucky, GH)
• Billy Warlock (AJ, GH)
• Susan Walters (Diane, Y&R)
• Jess Walton (Jill, Y&R)
• Cynthia Watros (Nina, GH)
• Maura West (Diane, Y&R)
• Guy Wilson (Will, DAYS)
• Laura Wright (Carly, GH)
• Victoria Wyndham (Rachel, AW)
• Jacob Young (JR, AMC)
• Kim Zimmer (Nola, TD)

The Bad

• Deborah Adair (Jill, Y&R)
• Brandon Beemer (Shawn-Douglas, DAYS)
• Jennifer Bransford (Carly, GH)
• Tamara Braun (Taylor, DAYS)
• Mandy Bruno (Marina, GL)
• Nancy Burnett (Beth, B&B)
• Brandon Call (Brandon, SB)
• Christina Chambers (Molly, ATWT)
• Marcus Coloma (Nikolas, GH)
• Chad Duell (Michael, GH)
• Rory Gibson (Noah, Y&R)
• Justin Gocke (Brandon, SB)
• Stacy Haiduk (Kristen/Susan, DAYS)
• Winsor Harmon (Thorne, B&B)
• David Hasselhoff (Snapper, Y&R)
• Amelia Heinle (Victoria, Y&R)
• Luke Kleintank (Noah, Y&R)
• Jennifer Landon (Heather, Y&R)
• Adrianne León (Colleen, Y&R)
• Marie Masters (Susan, ATWT)
• Cameron Mathison (Drew, GH)
• Robin Mattson (Gina, SB)
• Lindsey McKeon (Marah, GL)
• Tracy Melchior (Kristen, B&B)
• Margaret Michaels (Santana, SB)
• Austin Peck (Brad, ATWT)
• Ingo Rademacher (Thorne, B&B)
• Heather Rattray (Lily, ATWT)
• Robin Riker (Beth, B&B)
• Amanda Setton (Brook Lynn, GH)
• Chauntee Schuler (Bonnie, ATWT)
• Charles Shaughnessy (Victor, GH)
• Sabine Singh (Greenlee, AMC)
• Trevor St. John (Tucker, Y&R)
• Kirsten Storms (Maxie, GH)
• Josh Taylor (Roman, DAYS)
• Gordon Thomson (Mason, SB)
• Jack Wagner (Warren, SB)
• Marie Wilson (Meg, ATWT)

The Ugly

• Anthony Addabbo (Dmitri, AMC)
• Mark Arnold (Joe, SB)
• Noelle Beck (Lily, ATWT)
• Paul Burke (C.C., SB)
• Wanda DeJesus (Santana, SB)
• Gina Gallego (Santana, SB)
• Paula Irvine (Lily, SB)
• Scott Jenkins (Warren, SB)
• Hunter King (Summer, Y&R)
• Kimberly McArthur (Kelly, SB)
• Jeffrey Meek (Craig, ATWT)
• Charity Rahmer (Belle, DAYS)
• Joanna Rhinehart (Jessica, ATWT)
• Eden Riegel (Heather, Y&R)
• Hartley Sawyer (Kyle, Y&R)
• Jeff Trachta (Thorne, B&B)
• Steve Wilder (Jack, DAYS)
• Robert Scott Wilson (Ben, DAYS)

[Noel]

Hahahaha! Damn, you have good ones too. I totally forgot to add Charity Rahmer (Belle, DAYS).

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But, yeah! It's your list and should be your list. What's the point in trying to counter-argue? In what? For what? Oy. People be trippin'.

[Liberty City]

... I wasn't trying to argue/counter-argue, though?  More-so giving credit for how you organized your list, which I appreciated.

[Noel]

No, I'm in saying in general, not you per se. I thought for a minute it was Donna in one of her multiple accounts. 

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[Vee]

The thing about Heather Tom as Kelly on OLTL is both she and Dan Gauthier as Kevin did end up being popular with the audience. Fans were not pleased when Brian Frons cut them both.

Kelly as a character hadn't really been popular since the late '90s, after Nathan Fillion left as Joey and once Kelly did the hit and run that killed Blair's baby. Her pairing with Timothy Gibbs' Kevin under JFP was also extremely unpopular and turned the audience off of both characters. When they were reintroduced in 2003 it was a departure, but Michael Malone and Josh Griffith made a bold move: They leaned into the problematic nature of the characters' changes instead of trying to whitewash it all. Kevin and Kelly under JFP in 1999-2001 had been, put simply, pious hypocrites who had left Joey out in the cold to have an affair and present their romance as a great love story. (They were so widely disliked that when JFP left and Gary Tomlin took over the show didn't bother giving Tim Gibbs, playing a core character, an onscreen exit.) When they returned as played by first Gauthier and Tracy Melchior (almost certainly a placeholder for someone) then Tom, they were the same: Pious hypocrites who had parlayed their social standing into political prominence. The difference between the two creative regimes was the writing treating them much more honestly. Kevin and Kelly in the post-JFP 2000s were treated as a dysfunctional, messy relationship from the jump.

I enjoyed Heather Tom immensely in the role because of who Kelly was and because she and the writing leaned into it; Kelly was a self-pitying hypocrite, running from a troubled family and childhood, who hid behind her social standing to get what she wanted or what she thought she wanted (Ace). Fans also loved Gauthier as Kevin because he sold the truth about who Kevin had become; a smarmy political scion who deep down was going to be broken apart by events both of his own making and beyond his control and be rebuilt as a character. It was only when Kevin and Kelly were taken apart and deconstructed by the events of the baby switch storyline that they became sympathetic and viable again. They became OLTL's answer to Alan and Monica Quartermaine and, before their ignoble exit, were a popular pairing together with the audience, who decried the actors' firings. The complete antithesis of where they'd started under JFP with Tim Gibbs and a perhaps less enthused Gina Tognoni.

OLTL tried to bring Gina back later and simplify the character bringing Kelly back to 'her roots' as a carefree screwball comedienne. It didn't work over a decade later, with Gina having since played a much more complex, nuanced dramatic role on GL as Dinah Marler. Nobody bought it and the return failed. But the one moment she really worked when she came back in 2010? The few days they gave her with Dan Gauthier.

Edited November 23, 2022 by Vee

[j swift]

I was watching the YouTube clip about the history of Morgan Richards on GL and that recast was rough.  Kirsten Vigard played Morgan the first year or so, up until the wedding to Kelly, and then Jennifer Cook played the part for the next two years.  There were stories in the press that Vigard had troubles backstage both in terms of learning her lines and getting along with her co-star which were repeated when she was later cast on OLTL.

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Gossip aside, looking at the clips today there are several reasons that the recast seemed misguided.  First, Ms. Cook looks 5-7 years older than Vigard, which I would assume was due to the fact that she started when the character was married (I think the transition between actresses happens while Morgan and Kelly are on their honeymoon) and they wanted to reduce the appearance of an age difference between Morgan and Kelly now that they were being given more love scenes.  Second, Ms. Cook lacks the ingenue-like charm of Ms Vigard, her Morgan is much less innocent or guileless which ruins the interplay with Nola.  When Kristen played Morgan, Nola was easily able to pull the wool over her eyes, but Cook's Morgan was less naive.   Lastly, Vigard has an excellent singing voice, she sang one of my favorite songs God Give Me Strength from the movie Grace of My Heart.  I don't know if Ms Cook could sing, but suddenly Morgan and Kelly were not serenading each other anymore as they did during their courtship.

That being said, I'm happy OLTL didn't follow though on having her play a Tina recast, talk about being cast against type.  And, of course, in the merry-go-round of soap casting Liz Keiffer later went over to GL.

Edited November 25, 2022 by j swift

[danfling]

I was shocked to see the name of Marie Masters as a bad recast as Susan Burke Stewart Baxter, R. N. on As the World Turns.   I thought that she was one of the best actresses on the soap operas and that her portrayal as Susan was probably better than any of the other actresses who had played the role!