ABC: ‘All My Children’: Kelly Ripa, Mark Consuelos Developing Primetime Version

[Jonathan]

 

Agree so BLAH. Thorsten's bad acting was masked by his accent. Julie Carruthers had a hard on for him and let him get away with nonsense (e.g. wearing a Detroit Red Wings jersey while filming 

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).

[DemetriKane]

I wouldn’t say I hated them. I enjoyed them around the time Greenlee confronted Kendall at thanksgiving up until the satin slayer. They did have good chemistry and looked good together when he had a haircut. It was just I never understood the character of Zach. They didn’t do a good jo at defining him. Outside of his forced relationship with Myrtle I didn’t know much about him.

Edited March 23, 2021 by cassistan

[lucaslesann23]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CMxB4s_Mufs/?igshid=1eq38vm97dwuj

 

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[Skin]

Zach killed the character of Kendell and the sexiness of the character. I get the idea that they wanted to pair her with a long-term love interest. She was the equivalent to Pine Valley's bicycle/welcome wagon for most male characters but tying her down for so long really killed the growth of the character, and the stories she had from 2004 until pretty much the end of the series.

 

The weird thing is that there were pretty obvious exit pathways to end the pairing, so I have to think the network executives and hire-ups liked them as a couple. They could have easily paired Zach with Maria, Dixie, Greenlee, Liza, or a number of other women during that timeframe.   

[Vee]

They tried him with literally all those women. Zach originally came on as a spoiler for Edmund and Maria. I think if either the network or Megan or both hadn't soured on Eva LaRue the Zach/Maria thing would've kept going. And the network clearly worshipped Zach, which is why he was thrown at all those women and Bianca's wife. Ultimately though they always kept Kendall in reserve.

[dragonflies]

Zach did NOT kill the character of Kendall, that is beyond stupid. She was ruined with her Ryan(and later on) Greenlee worship. 

[Jonathan]

 

I had the same thought. But I think she's reading the script of her Amazon show.

Edited March 23, 2021 by Jonathan

[Pine Charles]

I respectfully disagree.

 

”Domesticating” Kendall - especially with the birth of those brats - killed her.

 

I agree with the others that she should’ve had more of an “Erica Kane” history (especially with men).

Kendall was much more akin to her mother in personality than Bianca. 

[te.]

We haven't heard anything about a pilot being cast or filmed, so that's more likely.

 

If it's picked up it's looking more and more like it won't be for the fall considering ABC has some pilots that are currently getting ready to film.

[Skin]

 

I disagree that Ryan killed her character, Kendell was still viable all throughout 2002 and 2003 when she and Ryan were more or less on and off again. Ryan is actually her last interesting or inspired pairing, and him leaving her at the motel, as he rode off in the rain with his motorcycle is one of AMC's few iconic images from the 2000's. The Rendall pairing had vestiges of what made AMC really spark in the late 90's to early 00's. Ryan leaving her, and them reconciling is a testament to the growth her character faced during that period and is pretty much the best Alicia ever was in the role, along with the Micheal Cambias murder storyline that ran during that time period. That's the truly last time I can recall Kendell being a great or magnetic character in her own right, and when it felt like she was leading story independently. 

 

The Greenlee worship, was a subcomponent of her relationship with Zach. Kendell needed a forever BFF Girlfriend and Greenlee fit the bill, because they needed to have a comparable couple Zendell could double date with, and that was decided to be Rylee.

 

Once Kendell was settled down with kids she ceased being Kendell, and all of her storyline's and autonomy went out the window. She was just Zach's wife. It says volumes that after Zach was paired with Kendell she was his damsel in distress until the show ended. She was locked and vacuum sealed as an appendage to his drama.  Never did Kendell have as many comas, injuries, nor was she so constantly and consistently victimized and in peril as she was when she was with him. So much for the strong, fiery, independent woman that they were trying to craft Kendell into back in 2001-2003.

 

All this to say it would serve Kendell as a character to be wiped of Zach and all of his associated drama if this reboot happens. It would certainly serve SMG's Kendell better in being a fleshed out and fully realized character. 

[Vee]

Zach was regularly overfeatured and I have no real interest in his return. But Ryan was also a sucking black hole for the show from about 2003 on, like other supposedly important female characters we could mention.

Edited March 24, 2021 by Vee

[DRW50]

The main problem with Kendall wasn't a man, it was being treated as a plot device. She was a plot device for Ryan, Greenlee, and later, Zach. 

[DemetriKane]

It’s all the above for me. There’s one root problem, the writers. It all starts on the page. These writers have to get back into focusing on the characters journey and not writing to the loudest fanbase.

 

Kendall had a special needs child, right? I thought that was interesting and a courageous move by the show. She still could’ve ran [!@#$%^&*] in Pine valley for years. 
 

I don’t think AMC gets enough praise for what they were doing with Stuart, Lily, and Spike.

 

 

 

[All My Shadows]

I just want to chime in to add to the chorus of people establishing that Zach did indeed kill Kendall as a character. I wasn't even against them in the beginning - the courtship was good soap, and IIRC, they took their time with it. Once they were together and then became a foursome with Ryan and Greenlee, it was all over...despite the 15 years of pleas here on SON that Ryan and Greenlee alone were the problem and that Zach and Kendall were being dragged down by them. Lol. No. It was a four-way (ew!) all the way down to rock bottom, and it's why I ditched it in favor of other soaps that were better at the time.

 

It's just really, really hard for me to forget the days when Ryan and Greenlee got all the hate for being "airhogs" yet every. damn. month. we had the FOUR of them on the very top, USUALLY with Kendall at #1...INCLUDING WHEN SHE WAS IN A COMA. And as has already been said - she was no longer interesting by this point.

The last year, with the creepy minister, was better, but by then it was too late.

[lucaslesann23]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/pandemic-fog-casts-a-shadow-on-another-tv-pilot-season?fbclid=IwAR2bGPAKQC3MKRHdt1Z-G0rs8yJdIknuKFuPquAv6zTWg1cnlzsbdD5m4q8

 

 

" ABC has two high-profile reboots in the works from Lee Daniels (The Wonder Years and Waiting to Exhale), plus an L.A. Law sequel and an All My Children primetime project."