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The best of the bland soap hunks


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People might disagree but when I was a kid, Doug Davidson/Paul Williams was a rather bland character who many thought of as a hunk, that's why pairing him with a troublemaking firecracker who couldn't get out of her own way (no matter how hard she tried) like TEB's Lauren Fenmore was such a savvy choice. 

 

Together Paul and Andy were like Y&R's version of The Hardy Boys. Both bland soap hunks solving GC's mysteries and launching investigations.

 

ATWT-- Linc Lafferty, the Kasnoff Brothers.

 

B&B- Most of the Thorne Forresters.

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Victor Webster and Matt Cedeno from DOOL. They were both very easy on the eyes, but their characters....

 

It was an interesting time on Days during that era, countering those two with the likes of Jensen Ackles and Jason Cook, who played characters with a lot of substance. Jay K. Johnson took a while to grow on me, but looking back, he was the best Philip. Kyle Brandt, meanwhile, was clearly in the wrong profession.

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Yeah, it’s not the body change.  He changed.  He used to be hot as hell but was also temperamental and sweet and had a lot of great qualities for a soap leading man.  He was a neutered version of Holden by the mid 1990’s.

 

Victor Webster and Matt Cedeno and most of the men on DAYS in that period covered that bland department.  I agree that Jason Cooke and Jensen were more than that.

 

As for Paul Williams and Brad Carleton- I don’t think they quite qualify.  Compare them to Andy or Dylan or the like.  Paul and Brad had stories where they were central, as opposed to always being in the third tier storylines or always in a love triangle (where their costar was  more important than them).  Both had an edge (although Paul had none by the time he was paired with Christine, and had lost most of it with Lauren).  Brad was a hunk, but he wasn’t a bland one in my eyes.  He’s no Terry Lester by any stretch, but more vital than Andy.

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That would have been an amazing summer series. I'd definitely watch the grainy YouTube uploads of VCR recordings (so maybe I've dabbled in David Cassidy: Man Undercover...)

 

I did not like Jason Cook when he was on DAYS, but I found something endearing about him afterward when I'd go back and watch clips or watch an odd GH episode. Besides being absolutely my physical type (that black hair! those dark eyes! that pout!), he had that dopey, goofy stoner thing going on. I bet he's a fun time.

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As much as I like a blond IRL, they tend to be synonymous with blandness when it comes to soaps.

 

Ryan's Hope  - Chaz Seybrooke -  perfect soap opera name, but kind of a nothing character, he was the rebound guy for Ryan after Rick left her (I can never remember if it was the actor or Rick who went to RADA),  he was involved in a minor insider trading story that was much too simple to be intriguing

 

Bold and Beautiful  - Thorne Forrester - it is hard to be that dull with a fascinating mother, but he pulled it off, a character so boring that his job is literally in the basement

 

All My Children - Greg Nelson - his big love story with Jenny is mostly remembered for her time away from him in New York, he was strictly an object of desire with no substance - special mention to Dr. Cliff Warner, the slightly older version of the same character, a guy who we are told women long for, but we never found out why

 

Loving -Jack Forbes, not actually blond, but you know a guy is bland when he was the center of the drama for the first year and then he disappeared and nobody noticed for a long time

 

Santa Barbara - Brick Wallace, also not blond, but a character name was never as prophetic.  Here's a guy who was the son of Sophia and Lionel, (arguably two of the most intriguing, sophisticated,  and smartest characters in town ) and he was a complete bore.  He also grew up in the circus, and yet it did nothing to make him more likable or interesting.  His background is strikingly similar to Dinah on GL (raised by carnies, abandoned child of two intellectual characters), and yet somehow their paths were very different.

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While Hart WAS boring and dumb as a box of rocks...(I cant imagine Roger ever just wondering if he was indeed his kid) Grillo wasn't bland himself. He was totally miscast in that role...(Hart the blond midwestern farm boy becomes a roided out Italian New Yorker???)  I would have loved to see Grillo as a Santos, as he would actually make an edgy scary mobster. Its too bad he wasnt cast as Danny's brother, who actually survived and HE was the one who wanted Chele out of the way...he would make a more intimidating villain and mob boss then silly campy Carmen.

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