Notable Un-Recasts

[FrenchBug82]

It is worth pointing out that a lot of what we complain here has to do with the writing as much if not more as the performer themselves.

For instance, Greg V can act - when he is given sad material he pulls it off - but he suffers from bland-and decent-guy-leading-man syndrome. Soaps specifically cast him for that; they are the ones defanging the characters and hiring him because he seems like a good fit for it, rather than his active interpretation of the roles. Same thing happened in his other roles. He has expressed before that he was expecting to play Lucky as he had been and was disappointed the writing wasn't there.

And since I complained about MS, I should be honest and point out that she hasn't changed THAT much since her beginnings. She was a ham from the get-go but Phyllis was given fresh and fun material in her first run and the first part of her return where her over-the-topness somewhat worked. The fact her latest return has been a disaster is because frankly the writing has been dreadful and they don't know what to do with her. And the decline in the quality of her work since the mid aughts is also because the overall show has declined since then. 

Finally, she started off mainly with Cricket and Danny, next to whom anyone would look like a thespian. Then she played off mainly against Jack, which would elevate anyone.
Putting her in Joshua M.'s orbit was an invitation for her to become as lazy as he is about her acting and rely on her tricks.

I could go on with dozens of examples of recasts where I blame the writing more than the actor but the reason the phenomenon discussed in this thread is particularly interesting is that because the fact so many of these returnees end up being disappointing illustrates how much the success and failure of performers and characters sometimes have to do with factors completely unrelated to the actor themselves. If they worked well the first time and didn't when they returned, then there was something else than the actor to the initial magic.

 

And I blame the meh-ness of Andrea Evans' return as Tina on the wigs. Those wigs, man. 

[Faulkner]

I definitely think writing is a contributing factor to Stafford’s decline. Part of it is that they began indulging her excesses as well. Early, psycho Phyllis was quieter and colder, which made her eerier and more fascinating to watch, especially as Phyllis tried to play the nice girl to avoid getting exposed. (You saw glimpses of Giggly Heffa when she would secretly laugh at how well her schemes were working.) After her return, Phyllis had little to hide and was a threatening loudmouth, but she of course had better scene partners (Bergman, Rowell, Heather Tom, MTS, CLB, et al) and better writing than she has today. She was OK with Susan Walters’ Diane, but, with her, you could also see how she might steamroll less assertive scene partners. She had a solid adversary with Sharon Case, but once Sharon began her downward spiral post-Cassie/Phick and Amelia Heinle’s weak, sniveling Victoria was the only other female “Alpha,” Phyllis could just stomp through the show with abandon.

Edited July 20, 2020 by Faulkner

[Soaplovers]

 

It was why Nina slapping the taste out of Phyllis' mouth was satisfying

[Fevuh]

I actually liked Pierson.  Atkinson and his Thomas made me stop watching.  Same with Adam on Y&R.  They ate the show but with B&B I  was tired of Liam, Hope, Steffy and Wyatt.  Crying hysterical Katie, Bill and horned up Brooke and unshaven Ridge.  Quinn ate the show for 3 years.  The show might be well produced but it’s dumb.  Then you have Carter - arguably one if not the hottest men on daytime and no one is interested in him.  They trot him in to do a wedding or some legal papers.  

[lucaslesann23]

Now we got abby

Please register in order to view this content

[Soap-princess]

I’m not sure why they brought Michelle back if she didn’t have a major/impactful story in place. Was it just because they wanted to bring back OG Phick and likely Phack down the road? I think she can still be impactful with the right writing, but I don’t think Josh is the person to bring it out of her honestly. 

[Paul Raven]

I don't think at this point that even the combined talents of Bell, Nixon and Irna Phillips could salvage the show.

Phyllis is PLAYED OUT, especially as TPTB are so tightly tied to all these vet characters. They only seem interested in repeating stories/interactions.

[pdm1974]

I thought GT really breathed new life into the character of Phyllis and was soooo disappointed when they let her go. Now, we're back to wash and repeat with what MS did when she played her before.

 

I really hope one of the remaining soaps snaps up GT.

[Soaplovers]

Anyone's thoughts on Ilene K returning as Delia in 1982 and in 1986?

 

I felt her 1982 return didn't work and caused the character to regress even more because she couldn't play Delia managing the Crystal Palace, being a hostess, etc.  Hence why in 1983 she was back to being a thorn in the Ryan families side.  She was kind of a limited actress in terms of range 

[Chris 2]

I never got to see Ilene’s 1982 return, though I wanted to - SoapNet always cycled back to the beginning of RH shortly before she would have returned.

 

Anyone mention Brenda Dickson as Jill on Y&R? She left in 1980, was succeeded briefly by Bond Gideon, and then for three years by Deborah Adair. When Adair left in 1983 for primetime, Dickson returned. And then later on, Adair filled in for a week while there was some behind-the-scenes drama with Dickson.

 

And then there’s the quick return of Robin Strasser as Rachel on “Another World”. She left at the end of 1971, but was back in a matter of months when her replacement, Margie Impert, bombed. But she only returned for three or four months, until a permanent replacement could be found, and was gone again halfway through 1972.

 

 

[Jonathan]

 

Good Lord!  Thank goodness Covid-19 wasn't around back then otherwise she would have for sure passed it on to her co-stars.

Edited July 23, 2020 by Jonathan

[amybrickwallace]

 

Hey, you could make an entire thread on this topic.

[Planet Soap]

AMC: As mentioned, Kate Collins and Robin Mattson as Janet on All My Children. Apparently Collins' (in a dual role) Janet was supposed to be twins with her original character Natalie. They then recasted the Janet character with Robin Mattson, saying Janet had plastic surgery to look different. Eventually, Natalie was killed off, Mattson left the show, and Collins returned as Janet  in the 2000s, negating the new face thing.

 

IMO, that exemplifies the downside of  surgically altered face stories. When the original actor returns, writers have to concoct a convoluted story to explain away the new face/og face situation. Case and point, Jason & Drew on GH , or Todd & Victor Jr on OLTL. On the other hand, writers could go the All My Children route, or the Sheila/Phyllis route on B&B/Y&R and not even acknowledge undoing the recast.

 

OLTL: I grew up with TSJ's Todd, but youtube and the two Todd's storyline made me prefer Rodger Howarth. Howard's Todd was more animated and comical, especially in the late 90s early 2000s with the fake D.I.D. and dead baby lie storylines. St Johns Todd was a bit animated in the beginning, but grew cold and stoic as time went on. Howarth's Todd was abusive but never that way to Starr. TSJ's Todd on the other hand made Starr's life miserable during the Cole years.

 

Y&R: Michelle Stafford is Phyliss. I humbly couldn't feel Gina Tognoni in that role.  The backlash against Stafford IS warranted IMO. Her performance as of late is way too campy and over-the-top. Her best years were the 90s and about 2000-2002ish. Tognoni did channel Sandra Nelson though, who I though was the best in the role.

Edited August 27, 2020 by ironlion

[Jonathan]

 

They actually were not twins.  They were born a year apart.

[Planet Soap]

Ahhhhh! Noted. Pardon any mix up in info, I'm loosely familiar with that time period on AMC.