Mysteriously dropped Storylines

[FrenchBug82]

Soaps infamously - and logically - drop storylines all the time.
Most of the time for legit reasons:
- behind-the-scenes (HR issues with a performer or between performers, performer abruptly leaves, change of headwriter or producer)
- creative issues (story does not work or audience rejects the story)

 

What I was interested in bringing up were stories that were clearly either seeded or started and disappeared without us ever getting an answer as to where this was intended to go and why the direction changed abruptly.
 

One I am thinking about what when Maura West's Diane married Victor on Y&R. They rushed the marriage, spent a LOT of time showing the terms of the prenup and started showing Victor acting bizarre and controlling (I remember a creepy scene around a necklace he wanted her to wear)... They were pretty clearly setting the stage for a story there (and maybe two stories as they really insisted she would get nothing unless the marriage lasted a year which hinted this would be a later plot point) and then... nothing. The very fact of the marriage was dropped in a hot minute and almost entirely memory-holed six months later. It was very abrupt and very weird and we never really found out what the storyline was supposed to be about.
On Another World, around the time Carmen Duncan took over as Iris returned from Australia, another character with an Australian accent popped up (was her name Sheila?) in a different storyline and it seemed like too big a coincidence. But the character went nowhere and we were never explained what the initial plan might have been.
On Days, there was once a phone call where Victor said Daniel must never know who his real father was - that was after we had learned he was Maggie's. Nothing ever came of that, did it?
 

What other stories do we remember were hinted at and planted seeds for and just completely dropped and never mentioned again without the reason why ever made public?

[DramatistDreamer]

On one of the recent reunion livestreams, Hillary Bailey Smith talked about how Larry Bryggman, who played her onscreen father John Dixon (ATWT) told her about a storyline that happened sometime around the late 1970s or very early 80s, before she was on the show, that John found a dead body behind the sofa in his living room. HBS said that Bryggman told her that when the show returned to Joh Dixon the next week there was no mention of the dead body, they simply moved on.

[AbcNbc247]

AW

Peggy Lazarus: She was the DA that prosecuted Brittany for Peter's attempted murder and eventually ended up dating him for a while. The show hinted that she had a past that Reginald knew about. I think it was even revealed that Peggy wasn't her real name, but then she just suddenly disappeared.

Vampires: In 1995, people started showing up at the hospital with strange bite marks on their necks. Tomas also had dreams in which he was a vampire. Then it was just completely forgotten about. JFP or whoever was clearly trying to copy DAYS, and my guess is that someone above her put an end to the storyline.

 

Passions

Antonio's secret, and what he saw Julian doing that prompted him to leave town

Ivy's blackmailing of David Hastings

Jared's secret past

 

GH

Rosalie's secret, and why Brad had to marry her.

Pretty much anything that had to do with the character of Dev. He went from being a thief, to a good kid, to having a crush on Josslyn, to being gay, to being asexual, and then finally a villain who schemed to get Joss, before being killed off

Edited February 11, 2021 by AbcNbc247

[titan1978]

On GH, after Miranda flopped, they just gave her backstory to Alexis instead.

 

Does anyone remember what the story was that had Lucy having a vision of Kevin encased in ice?  I don’t.  I also don’t remember anything coming of Tom Hardy’s belief that Dr. Hardy died due to stress the Cassadines were placing on the hospital finances.  It was his motivation in helping Luke and Laura and it pretty much just went away.

 

Another one on GH was when Genie came back for the 50th, after the initial story, they were setting up a story for her and Lucy rebranding and relaunching Deception, which was dropped abruptly and never came up again when she came back.

Edited February 11, 2021 by titan1978

[watson71]

On Another World, they were setting up that Reginald Love's adopted son, Scott LaSalle, was really a triplet to Marley and Vicky.  Reginald showed Donna a picture that caused a nervous breakdown when Anna Stuart left the show.  When she left, Donna was clutching three pillows.  A few months later, when Philece Sampler took over the role of Donna, the triplet storyline was dropped, and it was revealed that Reginald showed her a picture of John Hudson that caused her nervous breakdown.  Scott's true parentage was never revealed before he left the show.

[SFK]

How about Adam's son Miguel on AMC during the J.R. cancer storyline?

 

It's sad how much I've already forgotten about AMC's final years. I do remember a fair-skinned dark-haired Latino character who was on the show but I cannot recall his name. I think he was involved at the hospital but I'm not sure. I can see his face but I can't remember his name.

[Forever8]

GH

I remember when Ron Carlivati was there they were rumors that he wanted to bring Serena back played by Carly Schroeder and Christina Baldwin back as well. Also, let's not forger the patient that Kevin had to rush back to Seattle to treat that mysterious patient. I heard a rumor it was supposed to be Christina, but it was dropped. 

 

The teen quad of Molly/TJ/Rafe/Taylor ended quickly than anticipated. We had a forgettable recast Taylor and it seemed they were finally mentioning Rafe being a Barrington which was dropped when he was killed off too. 

 

Let's not forget about Guza forgoing the initial Valentin Cassadine played by Matt Borlenghi for James Franco. And I don't know if it is true, but he was supposed to have a daughter named Mischa who was going to be paired up with Michael at the time too. 

 

OLTL

Wasn't Nora originally supposed to be the one who killed Sarah Gordon? And they were going to use the excuse of those migraines she used to have. 

Tina and CJ was going to return in 2003 until it was scrapped. 

 

 

 

[Vee]

 

They used the migraines/tumor to suggest Nora was driving the car the night Sarah was killed, and had blacked out. But I suspect it was always meant to be a red herring and obstacle for Bo and Nora, because the question of if she did it (and her believing she had) was a major plot point for months. So I don't consider that dropped.

Edited February 11, 2021 by Vee

[te.]

The Marlena clones on DAYS that seemingly amounted to nothing. Since the possession storyline ran longer than they expected (probably due to the popularity of it and helping the show fight the OJ pre-emptions) I assume it was originally meant as a follow up storyline to it and then just dropped.

[Forever8]

Thanks for the clarification. 

[Mitch]

Believe it or not it was JFP who put a stop to that and fought it..in an interview Lemay said that along with his compliments on her as a producer. If only she had been around on GL for the clone.

[MichaelGL]

GL:

The Lighthouse Gala was supposed to be in time for GL’s 50th Anniversary on television coordinated by Meta and the Spauldings. Mary Stuart passed and Josh and Revas wedding was then plotted to coincide with the anniversary. I personally hoped they would keep it, as a rival to the Nurses Ball on GH. 

At the time Martha Stewart did time for insider trading, GL was teasing of a similar story for Phillip under Taggart/Culliton. This could have also been used to keep Phillip and Olivia apart for some time, however as soon as ConWest took over this was dropped. 

Everyone knows Alex was NOT MEANT to be are as stalker. 

Danny Santos and Cassie Layne were supposed to be more than just a flirtation. 

Mallet and Mindy were dropped too during the Curlee era. 
 

During the ex wives club Alex was blackmailing Mindy I believe? That was dropped and never revisited with ConWest.

 

During one of India’s visits wasn’t it implied that Dorie(the child India took in during the mid 80s) might be in trouble or Alan was holding something over that was related to Dorie. 

[FrenchBug82]

Do we have a sense of who it was initially going to be?

[titan1978]

I thought of another one- the mysterious man with a Cassadine signet ring that was seen on GH, right around the time Stephen Nichols was released from DAYS, and rumors were he was going to appear as Stefan again.  Then nothing as far as I remember.

 

And Spencer hacking the election was completely dropped.  Wasn’t he even being blackmailed about it?  Laura doesn’t know if I remember correctly.

[Gray Bunny]

 

Reva's stalker in early 2003 was supposed to be Jonathan (a year and a half before they casted Tom Pelphrey).