Characters that Stopped Getting Stories

[carolineg]

Again, I don't think any child has ever driven as much story with as many characters as Michael.  Tony wasn't irredeemable and deserved an arc recovering from his breakdown that we saw.  But Guza pivoted the Michael story to more 'important' characters and literally seemingly forgot about Tony because the Bobbie/Carly story was over.  It's a shame, but at the same time it did revitalize Tony as a character for a bit.  

[Paul Raven]

Y&R

Nick Newman- he hasn't really been driving story since the Mal Young years when he started Dark Horse.

Since then he lost that company, has no house, no workplace or defined job and no love interest.

He now functions as concerned brother, father and ex husband.

[Planet Soap]

That was also one of Bobbie's last real stories too. What was she really given after this? Jerry Jax and the sex tape?

Having grown up on JFP/Guza era GH I only knew Bobbie through youtube classics even though she made recurring appearences during this period.

Edited May 5, 2022 by ironlion

[carolineg]

And the Jerry Jax stuff was very abruptly ended.  Jerry just left her right at their wedding?  Right before?  She had that story with Roy Dilucca and Melissa IIRC and some stuff with Carly's bio dad.  That's the last time I remember her being decently featured as far as appearances (not storywise because those were awful)

[DemetriKane]

AMC Brooke English 

[ccroom50]

The Bold and the Beautiful(B&B): Eric Forrester, Quinn Fuller Forrester, Ridge Forrester Brooke Forrester, Dr. Taylor Hayes, Thomas Forrester, Steffy Forrester Finnegan, Dr. John "Finn" Finnegan, Jack Finnegan, Li Finnegan, Donna Logan, Pamela Douglas, Charlie Webber, Dollar Bill Spencer, Wyatt Spencer and Justin Barber

Days Of Our Lives(Days): John Black, Dr. Marlena Evans Black, Roman Brady, Brady Black, Abe Carver, Kate Roberts, Lucas Horton, Johnny DiMera, Allie Horton, Kayla Brady Johnson, Stephen "Patch" Johnson, Tripp Johnson, Ava Peralta, Victor Kiriakis, Maggie Horton Kiriakis, Sonny Kiriakis, Nancy Wesley, Chloe Lane, Eli Grant, LanI Price Grant and Paulina Price 

General Hospital(GH): Dr. Monica Quatermaine, Ned Quartermaine, Olivia Falconeri Quartermaine, Dante Falconeri, Sonny Corinthons, Carly Corinthos, Bobbie Spencer, Michael Corinthos, Willow Tait, Josslyn Jacks, Kristiana Corinthos, Valentin Cassadine, Anna Devane, Robert Scorpio, Mac Scorpio, Felicia Jones Scorpio, Dr. Scott Baldwin, Dr. Liesel Orbrecht, Dr. Britt Westbourne, Brad Cooper, Maxie Jones, Elizabeth Webber, Dr. Hamilton Finn, Cameron Webber, Harrison Chase, Brooklynn Quartermaine, Nicholas Cassadine, Ava Jerome, Spencer Cassadine, Portia Robinson, Trina Robinson, Marcus Taggert, Jordan Ashford, Curtis Ashford, TJ Ashford, Molly Davis-Lansing, Stella Henry, Epiphany Johnson Felix Dubois and Chet Driscoll 

The Young and the Restless(Y&R): Nikki Newman, Victor Newman, Nick Newman, Victoria Newman Noah Newman, Faith Newman, Mosses Winters, Jack Abbott, Kyle Abbott, Summer Newman Abbott, Jill Abbott, Ashley Abbott, Traci Abbott, Billy Abbott, Lily Winters, Phillip "Chance" Chancellor VI, Abby Newman-Abbott-Chancellor, Michael Baldwin, Lauren Fenmore Baldwin, Gloria Fisher, Kevin Fisher, Chloe Mitchell, Dr. Nate Hastings, Elena Dawson, Devon Hamilton, Amanda Sinclair, Imani Benedict and Naya Benedict  

[I Am A Swede]

Have you even read what this thread is about? How can you say that the likes of Sonny Corinthos, Carly Corinthos, Steffy Forrester, Brooke Forrester, Victoria Newman, Marlena Evans, Billy Abbott etc have stopped getting stories??

[Darn]

They've listed the entire cast for each show for some reason.

[Spoon]

Are they necessarilly wrong though?

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 I know b&b only have like four or five people that really drive  storyline 

Maybe they meant compared to before.  

Edited May 25, 2022 by Spoon

[slick jones]

Outside of Monica, Felix, and Kristina all of these characters have been featured in story in the last month.

[titan1978]

Bobbie on GH was one of the biggest examples for me.  She was driving story from her first appearance until the Roy is resurrected debacle.  Even during the super-cop period of the show, Bobbie almost always had a story, often more grounded than what Robert/Anna, etc were up to.  She had a couple of really popular romantic pairings too in that time, Jake and Tony.

Alan and a Monica had been kind of pushed aside a couple of times in favor of their kids starting in the 1990’s.  But Bobbie was still always in her own story and in crossovers with other characters like Carly and Luke.  JFP really had no use for her.

Dante is another great example- Frank and the writers post Guza have really no value in the character.  Look what they did with Lulu.

Edited May 25, 2022 by titan1978

[Huntress]

The most obvious examples for B&B would be Sally and Clarke. The latter drove so much story during his first stint from 1987 to 1992. After his 1996 return, the writers soon didn't know what to do with him – he was even gone for almost a whole year between 1998 and 1999 – and I think his last "bigger" story was in 2002 when his now adult son Mark came to town (which, in typical B&B fashion, fizzled out quickly). In 2005, Clarke was demoted to recurring status and last appeared in 2009.

Regarding Sally, she was still featured regularly until a few months before Darlene Conley's death, but by the late 90s, the only story she was given was the annual "Spectra is going bankrupt!" fuss which usually lasted for two weeks. Other than that, she was mostly a talk-to.

Edited June 3, 2022 by Huntress

[Maxim]

In Bold everyone stops getting stories if they are not involved with Brooke or Hope. That's the reality. 

[Darn]

Brooke English was frontburner for almost 30 years. The show was extremely invested in keeping her involved in story until Julia Barr got too old and expensive. It was a real shame because Brooke one of those characters that was quietly the foundation of the show, she wasn't larger than life like Brooke or Adam or part of a supercouple like Tad and Dixie (that said Adam and Brooke are my personal favorite couple) but one of those cornerstone characters that soaps need yet take for granted.

[Fevuh]

Lyla Montgomery and Susan Stewart also.  Anne Sward and Marie Masters were both wonderful actresses, and Lyla was literally just let go without any hoopla that I remember - it was kind of not a big deal - and with Craig, Margo - and wasn't Katie her daughter?  Still on the scene there was little or no mention of their mother.