Soap Writers Original Plans

[AbcNbc247]

I've often wondered what soap writers had been planning to write had they not left or been fired from their show. Would certain storylines have played out the way that they did or were storylines drastically altered by the new head writer? Would we as fans have liked the original projection better?

 

Examples

Had Douglas Marland stayed at GH, it would have been Laura and Scotty as opposed to Laura and Luke.

Had Gary Tomlin and Michele Poteet Lisanti stayed at DAYS, Stuart Whyland would have turned out to be the Salem Strangler, not Jake Kositchek.

Had Pat Falken Smith stayed at DAYS in 1982, Stefano's obsession would have been Julie, not Marlena. 

Had Harding Lemay stayed at AW in 1988, John and Sharlene would have been involved in a storyline about human trafficking. 

Had Dena Higley and Ryan Quan stayed at DAYS, Gabi would have gotten pregnant with Chad's baby.

 

I, myself have a few questions that I'd love to know the answers to, such as 

What was Pat Falken Smith's original plan for the Ice Princess storyline on GH?

What was James E. Reilly's plan for Hope looking into her four missing years on DAYS? Would she have become Princess Gina or did Sally Sussman Morina write something completely different then what Reilly had envisioned?

 

Feel free to share any original plans that you know.

 

 

[KMan101]

I love this thread idea! 

 

When I first started researching DAYS waaay back when I was pretty startled to realize how much Stefano and Tony were involved with the Hortons. It was really neat. I also loved that Stefano's obsession could have been Julie. Could have really given Doug and Julie a new lease on life instead of being sidelined and written out of character against Bo and Hope when they didn't need to be.

 

While the supercouple era of DAYS gets so much praise (and I do love it for what it was), as I watch older episodes and read recaps in the past, it always kinda disappointed me to see so many Hortons written out and the focus shift. They were really lucky it worked so well for them and fans ate it up. They at least did a great job keeping Alice involved, and at times, Tom (but I'm guessing the lack of Tom was often because of Carey's age, you saw the same decline in the use of Alice when Frances started having health issues and couldn't work as much). Having Alice and Tom meant that DAYS didn't "need" Doug/Julie/Bill/Laura to raise Jennifer and Hope. And I loved Alice's relationships with her grandchildren and great grandchildren. But that's what is lacking today on soaps. 

[soapfan770]

I know Reilly had a series of dropped/changed plots during his second tenure lol. Thudley Bell at B&B also has numerous dropped/twisted plots over the years as well, ranging from a Lolita-type story for Eric to a introducing a bunch of characters in 2003/2004 to replace the Forresters but dropped it entirely. 

But more the point of this thread:

 

Had Millie Taggert remained HW for GL, in 2003 Reva’s stalker was to be Jonathan while Gus’s mother was going to be Rita Stapleton.

Had Alden and SSM not be fired in 2006 by Latham, Lisa Mansfield was planned to resurface when Victor researched into Brad’s history. 
 

Had Marland had lived, the Kasnoffs on ATWT were to be victims of abuse.
 

 

 

[Khan]

From the start, Douglas Marland, when he was head-writing GL, had planned for Kelly and Nola to be endgame.  However, once Michael Tylo, as Quint, proved to have chemistry w/ Lisa Brown, the plans were changed.

 

Also, Marland had it in mind for Carrie Todd Marler, who was suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder, to kill and stand trial for the murder of Jackie Marler.  (No doubt, there would have been a harrowing sequence where Carrie, along with her other personalities, testified on the witness stand). But, once then-EP Allen Potter, citing "less-than-stellar ratings," demanded that Carrie be written off, those plans were changed as well.  (Carrie left SF, never to be seen or heard from again; and instead of being murdered, Jackie was killed in a plane crash.)

 

Let's see, what else.... ATWT's Lily was supposed to end up with Dusty, and Holden was to be paired off with Emily.  Then, Jon Hensley and Martha Byrne appeared onscreen together for the first time, and, well, you know the rest.

 

 

I've read recently (maybe it was on SON?) that there were also plans to bring back Rita when Michael Zaslow and Maureen Garrett had returned as Roger and Holly, respectively.  However, Lenore Kasdorf turned down the show's offer.  (Which was a shame, IMO, because I think Pamela K. Long and Nancy Curlee would have written some great material for her.)

 

 

Well, yes and no.  From what I've read, Douglas Marland wasn't opposed to the idea of pairing up Luke and Laura (although, I'm not sure he would've had Luke rape her).  However, he felt Scotty and Laura (and their fans) deserved some period of newlywed bliss before attempting to split them up again.

 

Now, I do know that Pat Falken Smith had it in mind for Luke to die at the hands of Frank Smith's goons -- hence, the rape.  However, due to the chemistry between Tony Geary and Genie Francis, the rape morphed into a "seduction," and it was Roy who was offed instead.

 

 

On paper, the DiMeras were so different from anything that had been on DAYS before, but Pat Falken Smith was smart to tie Stefano and Tony to the Hortons, characters whom the audience knew and cared about.  It also helped that Tony was once married to Liz, the only character from Nina Laemmle's disastrous tenure as HW to have a real fan following.

[soapfan770]

 
Always funny about Holden & Emily, the characters were briefly married with Smith was in the role but years later Holden & Emily never interacted with each other at all even thought the actors were married in real life.

 

Kasdorf if I recall right was living out in LA and more focused on her prime time gigs she could land by that point after leaving Santa Barbara. Years later back during the referenced Taggert era I think it Joan Collins (?) saying they were mulling about bringing Roger back as a partner for Alex, rumored to be played by Charles Keating. Not clue how that would have played out screen had it happened. 

[Khan]

 

That's what I'd love to know as well.  Was it PFS who suggested that the statue contained something mysterious in its' base?  If so, what was supposed to be hidden there, before Thom Racina changed it to a formula for "carbonic snow"?

 

 

IMHO, as brilliant as Charles Keating was, he never would have worked as Roger Thorpe.  GL could have used him, though, as maybe a von Halkein.

[BetterForgotten]

One thing for sure, I would have loved to be a fly on the wall during PFS and Gloria Monty's infamous encounters. 

[Khan]

 

Same (sort of) with Scott DeFreitas and Maura West.  As far as I can recall, I don't remember much interaction between Andy and Carly.

 

 

Well, @BetterForgotten, you are in luck, because I happen to have some videotape footage from one of their story conferences right here:

 

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KNOTS LANDING: Writers had planned for Abby to be directly responsible for the abduction of Val's twins.  However, Donna Mills protested, saying that while Abby's morals could be ambiguous, taking another woman's children would be one line she'd never crossed (especially given that Abby's ex-husband had done the same thing to her several seasons before).  So, the storyline was altered, making Abby's part in the scheme a bit murkier.  (Basically, she mouthed off (out of frustration) that her life with Gary would be so much easier if his and Val's babies weren't around; and Scott Easton, who was looking to partner with her on some Lotus Point-related business, set about to grant her wish.)

[soapfan770]

Very true. It easily could have gone both ways with Keating; he could have pulled it off or quickly fall flat on his face in the role. I remember the other rumors there in late 2002 that Anthony Herrera and Randolph Mantooth were looked at for the role as well; both more than capable actors I have always enjoyed but I knew neither would ever capture Zaslow’s style and spirit for a a very complex role. 
 

I feel bad form Taggert, she had her momentum finally going and it was all scrubbed for nothing when Conboy fired her for Ellen Weston. 

[KMan101]

I'm not contributing much and just reacting ... lol sorry. But it royally pissed me off at the time, and frankly still does, that Taggart was fired. I imagine she might have left on her own, but ugh. The momentum WAS there and it all went to hell and frankly the show never recovered. Kreizman meant well with some of what he did (and I disliked a lot of what he did) but the show had no budget by that point and it was over. I would have loved to see Jill Lorie Hurst get more time but by then the show had no time left.

[AbcNbc247]

I think it would have been different for Doug and Julie had PFS stayed. They might not have even been written out in 84. But it does seem kind of strange that at the same time Doug and Julie were being phased out and the younger characters were being built up, the Neil/Liz/Marie triangle was going on plus the whole Mickey/Maggie/Don situation. Two big stories were centered around somewhat older characters when everything was supposed to skew young.

I bet it had nothing to do with carbonic snow lol. PFS was even quoted in saying that the whole freeze Port Charles arc was a crappy idea, which Racina borrowed from a novel that he wrote. 

 

I wonder if that means he received two paychecks for that story; his regular salary and the right to use the novel.

[Bright Eyes]

 

Yeah but it was only the next year that they got rid of Don and Marie. Suzanne Rogers left in 1984 too because of her illness and when she returned in '85 it was only on recurring.

[kalbir]

It was mentioned in a different thread that Bill Bell wasn't originally going to pair Victor and Nikki but he rewrote their story when MTS became pregnant in real life. I wonder who Victor and Nikki were supposed to originally end up with. Could we have gotten Victor and Lorie maybe?

[Aback]

 

I'm loving the thread!

 

Was the B&B new family in 2003 the Marones? I didn't know they were supposed to phase out the Forresters.

 

I don't understand what tying Gus to Rita Stapleton would have added.

 

I would have loved to see Lisa Mansfield! Curious to where you got that info. Did they reveal it in an interview, podcast...?

[titan1978]

For all the hatred between PFS and Monty, they worked together again on GH a few years later!  
 

GH-

 

Guza left to start Sunset Beach, and the show was still pretty good for about 6 months.  Then it fell apart.  I have always wondered how all his stories would have played out- Miranda is a Cassadine (ended up as Alexis’ backstory), Lesley is alive, the faberge egg/Lucky’s video game, Bobbie married to Stefan, the Cassadine takeover of GH-  all of it seemed to be building to something only to fizzle out, and hardly be touched by him when he returned.

 

GH again- was the original story going to have Rick having molested Laura?  Also, what about the hospital story they were doing at the time?  Genie left and that was it.

 

GH- was the plan really to pair Brenda and Jason before Vanessa and JFP could not come to contract terms?  I have read Sam got some of the Brenda plans.

 

Count me amongst those wanting to know what PFS’s Ice Princess story entailed.

 

DAYS- the biggest question of all- what was Reilly’s original Salem Stalker plan?  I have read here a couple of times that by the time we get to killing Alice, the plans had already been changed.  Was it always Marlena?  When did they decide to kill people that were not in the original plans?