We’ve all heard about same-sex romances that were proposed or rumored and nixed/never came to fruition (Olivia/Holly on GL, Rex/Seth on OLTL). And there’s an interesting chat in the ATWT Cancelled Soaps thread about how many of Doug Marland’s male characters felt like repressed gay men. 
 

We all know daytime has been afraid to go there for most of its history, but which soap characters do you feel were written as crypto-gay/bi/lesbian? And which same-sex actors do you feel shared sexual chemistry enough for you to say, “Hmmm, wouldn’t it be interesting if they went there?”

Certainly, Will/E.J. and Will/Chad (back in the Casey Deidrick days) on DAYS had their share of supporters due to chemistry between the actors.

2 minutes ago, Soapsuds said:

And EJ covering Will's mouth to cover up the moaning as Sami walked in.😇

It would have been great, especially if they had had a great writer to pen the story.

3 minutes ago, Soapsuds said:

Wasn't it for stealing or cheating on a test. It was something lame written by Carlaviti. The story was cheesy bad.

I just looked it up. The porn producer heard Nate confess that he was the one who nearly killed Matthew.

8 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

 

 

I also forgot about EJ and Will.  And yes, there was chemistry, and it did seem like CM was into playing the subtext of it.  As a matter of fact, it reminds me of how good I used to find him as Will.

And I bet they would have gotten enough attention that they had more viewers, not less once all was said and done.

Massey sure was into the flirtatious scenes. Days should've went there instead of sticking him with dull boring Sonny.

DAYS: 

EJ and Will - Making EJ Bisexual or fluid with a story of these two having an affair would have been SO good. The Chemistry was there. 

Will and Chad (Casey Deidrick version) - They had so much chemistry. I still remember there being a scene at the Brady Pub where Will essentially gave Chad bedroom eyes and looked like wanted to be plowed right on a table. Chill would have been way better than WilSon. 

Sonny and Chad (Billy Flynn) - Freddie never had much chemistry with Chandler, but he did have it with Billy Flynn I thought. 

 

Y&R: 

Kevin and Det.Mark Harding - They had so much chemistry. Missed opportunity for sure. 

 

At the 1:17 mark ...what could've been

 

12 minutes ago, Soapsuds said:

Massey sure was into the flirtatious scenes. Days should've went there instead of sticking him with dull boring Sonny.

https://daytimeconfidential.com/2012/01/17/indecent-attractions-should-days-go-there-with-ej-and-will

Edited July 12, 20205 yr by victoria foxton

3 minutes ago, wingwalker said:

Sonny and Chad (Billy Flynn) - Freddie never had much chemistry with Chandler, but he did have it with Billy Flynn I thought. 

Billy sure loved his Sonny Bunny lol

 

I also feel like for Y&R Kyle Abbott (Lachlan Buchanan) and Noah Newman would have been interesting. and could of had potential. 

 

 

10 minutes ago, victoria foxton said:

😍

5 minutes ago, wingwalker said:

I also feel like for Y&R Kyle Abbott (Lachlan Buchanan) and Noah Newman would have been interesting. and could of had potential. 

 

 

I'm sure Lachlan would've been all for it. 😊

I mean- imagine if Sami’s son had stolen her man, even if for just an affair.  That is a spin on an old soap staple, and would have made it fresh and interesting!  And what if they all made peace, but a year or two later they clear a desk John and Marlena style, and Gabi is the one that saw them?

 

So much good history to be played with there!

E.J. and Will should've happened, but network daytime and specifically the world and perceived audience Corday and DAYS cater to would not have been the place for it. It was all DAYS could handle to immediately wife Will up with safe Sonny, then make him (like many GLBT characters before him) a parent via heterosexual coupling to desexualize him as much as possible.

 

Billy Douglas and Joey probably should've happened on OLTL, since originally the plan was for the gay teen to be Chris McKenna's Joey. (FWIW, if I ran that show online today latter-day daddy McKenna's Joey would fill the soulful sexy Andrew Carpenter role, and we'd discover he's bi and has been casually having an on-off fling with a recast Billy for years since high school.) OLTL had wanted to make little Shane Morasco gay as well, which gives the interplay with wooden Andrew Trischitta's Jack, his tormenter, a different and darker tone, especially after his suicide attempt and his mother's 'death'.

Edited July 13, 20205 yr by Vee

It’s sad because we all love soaps, but they are so many stories that this genre couldn’t tell, even and especially in the good old days, and apparently still can’t tell. This is a genre trapped by the expectations of what it perceives to be its core audience. There aren’t any visionaries who are empowered as Agnes Nixon, who had faith in the intelligence and tolerance of her audience as well as confidence in her character-building and storytelling abilities, so that she could lead audiences places they didn’t think they could go. And even she had limitations imposed on her.

On 7/10/2020 at 7:51 PM, Soapsuds said:

That's Chris Mckenna ex-Joey from OLTL who played Det.Mark Harding.

 

He was on Y&R for awhile and is on Lifetime Movies - I would sop that up with a biscuit.  

On 7/10/2020 at 7:41 PM, GLATWT88 said:

When I started watching GL, I thought Shayne Lewis (Marty West) was gay. I just assumed it, like oh there's a gay character 🤣 I wasn't fully aware that gay characters were actually not common on soaps at all until watching for a few more weeks. Then at one point I thought the character was coming out, because there was something about baseball and feeling pressure from Josh to do well...and I was like ohhh bitch, he's going to come out. Wrong. As I started to get to know the characters and stories better, I realized he was interested in Marina and was not gay. 

 

Yup, he sure came to mind. In fact, that whole 2002-2004 era of GL had a lot of bro relationships that could've gone a different path. I mean, just look at who we had at the time....

 

Marty West (Shayne)

Matt Bomer (Ben)

Paul Anthony Stewart (Danny)

Gavin Houston (Remy) 

52 minutes ago, Gray Bunny said:

 

Yup, he sure came to mind. In fact, that whole 2002-2004 era of GL had a lot of bro relationships that could've gone a different path. I mean, just look at who we had at the time....

 

Marty West (Shayne)

Matt Bomer (Ben)

Paul Anthony Stewart (Danny)

Gavin Houston (Remy) 

 

Ben (Matt Bomer) and his bestie Bill Lewis (Daniel Cosgrove) could have definitely gone there IMO.