Characters: The Aborted & The Wasted

[carolineg]

So lol I would have loved Lily come back as a crazy undead stalker.  Again, I feel like this borders on weird Sonny/Brenda fanfiction, but it would have been so cool for Lily to come back for revenge.  I like her death was actually permanent but there was a fun undead story there. 

The Lily doppelganger story was offensive.  I freaking hate Lily but that was a disservice to Lilly Melgar.  And like not even relevant because she was haunting him when he was married to Carly.  It would have been relevant to Brenda only.

[Vee]

I just think it would've been ridiculous, lol. Only Guza could've pulled that off, and not late stage Guza.

[carolineg]

Lily low key should have been the Tin Man!  Leaving origami gum wrappers everywhere lol.  I am just kidding, but there was some room to have her hook up with Jax or something.  But ClinkBoom is Guza's Opus so I get why it remains unchanged.

The weekend we had to wait when I was a kid to learn if Lily blew to bits was challenging.  I have said this before, but I was always sure she lived.

[Joseph]

so i began thinking about AMC, a flood came into my head, Janet And Natalie were pretty wasted, first in 1993 then in 2000 Janet would go back full NutCase after 6 years trying to regenerate

Also the Mid 1990's saw the return of Tara and Nina, but i don't remember them having anything interesting to do, and Erica, in later years, she was background in many ways, i don't doubt they wasted opportunities with her

Not sure about Ceara, love Genie but i couldn't find anything of her character except one cheesy catfight between her and ERica

i don't know this sabrina but i totally agree on Dina and Dominique, Dina was a Force in the 1980's when Kay died she sure could have made a big rival for JIll, even if Gloria seemed a more plausible victim, Dominique sure could have caused trouble, that mystery of the lady on the limo in 1989 some say it was her, would be interesting turning her and Blake into Mortal Enemies, since blake was a Jackass before Krystle sure they could come up with something to create a grudge

[Khan]

Ceara Connor?  Now there's a character whose potential was wasted. 

If Agnes Nixon and her team had written to GF's strengths from the start and NOT introduced Ceara as this man-hungry schemer, then I think GF's stint might have been longer and had more impact.  Instead, I think that decision, along with Genie's laughably bad performance during the climax of the incest story, pretty much guaranteed that Genie was never going to be a major player on that show.

I'm sure AW's Bobby Reno/Shane Roberts also would have had more potential, had his backstory not been so damn convoluted.

Honestly, why didn't Paul Rauch just recast Dorian with Sharon Gabet?  Robin Strasser might be irreplaceable, but I think viewers would have had an easier time accepting SG as a recast than they did Elaine Princi.

Edited February 12, 2022 by Khan

[Franko]

Or, since late '80s Melinda was a newswoman, why not just have her be Cathy Craig?

[Wendy]

Killing Sabrina was a mercy killing - for the audience. I was not sorry in the slightest to see her go. But I agree that she could have just left town with her kid with...was it Carlos?...in tow and alive.

[Khan]

By that point, the show liked to pretend that (aside from Dorian and Viki's history) nothing before 1979 ever happened.

[Franko]

I've got a pair ... Johnny Forbes and Amelia Whitney. Both should have lasted past LOVING's pilot. I wonder if the powers that be ever considered it or if the characters were always slated to not be part of the daily show. A shame, really. Think of the potential ... seems like Johnny had a USP, a daytime version of Joseph Kennedy. And imagine if Amelia and the Alden University prostitute ring/killings were in the background amid Lily Slater's storyline.

Sad but true. I also looked it up and see that Cathy was a writer, not a newswoman.

[John]

Yeah I always wondered why Johnny didnt stay and Amelia could of shot him, he lived & she goes to jail but is still a presence. The Pilot film had so much them that the first daytime episode seemed like a whole different show

Edited February 12, 2022 by John

[Khan]

Honestly, casting Lloyd Bridges and Geraldine Page to play two characters that were never intended to last beyond the pilot felt like the worse kind of bait-and-switch.  I mean, if you were a fan of either actor, you might have tuned in for the pilot, but there were no guarantees that those who did were going to stick with the show beyond that.

Plus, you add the fact that the pilot was introduced by Dorothy Lyman in her Opal (AMC) persona, and you just get the feeling that ABC never had much faith in LOVING.

Edited February 12, 2022 by Khan

[John]

GH: Patricia Spencer in 2015

They cast Dee Wallace. Cast Patricia's Daughter, Valerie a contract role but Kill Pat off . And then to learn Dee Wallace would have loved to recur in the role. 

I get that, its just that it semed like they could have played story beats for a while longer at least for six months

[j swift]

We could say the same thing for Diana Colville on DAYS.  Whatever the pitch was for that character, they clearly did not follow through.  Remember the infamous cover of SOD with Diana in a wedding dress and then the wedding was scrapped before the cover was printed?

And, of course, her 2019 return was equally bizarre and forgettable. 

[Planet Soap]

GH: AJ's return in 2014. So much more could've been done with the character, they could've paired him with Carly for a little bit to re-create the Alan and Monica toxic relationship dynamic. He could've even giving Sunny some hell now that Michael knew the truth behind his parentage. Instead they turn him back into a drunk and killed him off --again--despite his being a legacy character.

[Soaplovers]

GH:

Holly's return in 1992 was odd timing because Finola had quit a few months before and Tristan was leaving..so she remained for 18 months in some outdated adventure story and paired with Bill Eckert that went nowhere.

Nikki Langton in 1992..she was Dawn's half sister and she kind of looked like Dawn..so I could have seen Monica being motherly to her.  I think the malpractice lawsuit was a smart idea..and then hooking up with AJ.  Would have been interesting to have had her be the nightmare Quartermaine daughter in law...but she was quickly written off.