Onscreen all the time and we liked it

[amybrickwallace]

What's ironic is that even in their heyday, Luke and Laura weren't on 5 days a week. I've heard it was closer to 3-4. There were other strong stories going on with popular performers - the Quartermaines (especially the quad Monica and Alan were in with Lesley and Rick), Bobbie, Jeff, Heather, Anne, etc.

[DemetriKane]

I agree with this, and you're right some people just drive story better, but they still shouldn't be on screen 5 days a week.

Edited October 13, 2021 by DemetriKane

[te.]

I'm currently watching Dark Shadows and it becomes really obvious at some points that they're restricted by having max six characters talk on screen due to budget contraints (there's been one - maybe two times where they've exceeded that in the ~660 episodes I've watched so far). Obviously Moltke was very favoured before she left the show since she was technically the lead, but another thing that becomes very obvious is how other characters stay weeks - or even months off screen at the time, usually explained away with "having been on a business trip" or I guess having been somewhere in the house the whole time.

 

I'm guessing that the focus on one character became quite natural though when soaps were Winsor-esque morality plays focusing on "X's search for human dignity and compassion". I imagine that Vanessa Dale (as a character on Love of Life) must be up the Mary Stuart's Jo in terms of ratio.

[amybrickwallace]

Probably one of the reasons they had the actors play multiple characters (DS novice here).

[Nixor]

I think he’s done for anything other than a small guest stint. He’s married and living in Amsterdam and seems happy there. I could see him coming back for a day or two if JJ’s Lucky came back (which itself seems near impossible) or if/when the show ends. But fully agree I loved Luke right up until the early 2000s and then I detested him.

To add to the list of characters I never minded taking over all the screen time, I loved Eden’s Bianca on AMC until about 2005. Felt the exact opposite about Babe. 

[amybrickwallace]

Thanks for clarifying. I never did understand why he won all those Emmys post-2000, except for name recognition.

[FrenchBug82]

A LOT of the Emmys post-2000 - nominations and wins - are name recognition. Particularly in the leading categories 

Edited October 13, 2021 by FrenchBug82

[titan1978]

I didn’t realize he had gotten married.  When did this news come out?

And JJ says he is willing to return to the show, they just haven’t brought him back.  Which is a shame.

[AMCOLTLLover]

GH during the early 80's: Alan, Monica, Rick and Leslie. They were heavily on air most of the time and i always enjoyed them. Especially Alan! Even if he would just walk by and smile or say hello i would be fine with it

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Alan will always be my favorite character of GH

On B&B: Ron Moss as Ridge. People bash him for no reason these days even though he helped to make this show popular internationally. I never minded seeing him and enjoyed his chemistry with the other cast members

[amybrickwallace]

It is, but given the state of the writing maybe it's for the best right now.

[slick jones]

#firefrank won't bring JJ back. It would take screen time away from Ass-Tin..

[Nixor]

His husband had tagged him in some pics on Instagram last year. If you search his name as a tag you can still find them. 

Has JJ said he will come back full time or are we talking about one off days here and there? I’m surprised as he moved his family to Ireland. 

[amybrickwallace]

Yeah, I don't see either of them returning full-time or anytime soon.

[te.]

What's interesting with DS is how some things just happen off screen - like David befriending Adam. It didn't happen on screen - but if we didn't have the full run preserved I think people would've totally told it like he had done that on screen since our memories are malleable. It's interesting to think about how much of those classic storylines/moments that people talk about on soaps actually happened off screen.

[amybrickwallace]

I never thought of it that way, but you're right!!