I would like to see footage of Jeff and Monica. It would be cool to see that acknowledged on today's GH but Monica is nowhere to be found these days. 

Y&R Summer 1994- Spring 1996 Bill Bell tried so hard to make Joshua Morrow happen.

Palmer (AMC) is an easy choice. He definitely was the central villain for many years on the show. His character's schemes was one of the main reasons AMC went up in the ratings during the late 1970s and 1980s.

Adam/Stuart (AMC) As iconic as his nemesis was, David Canary added a lot of complexity and nuance to two characters and made it look easy. Whether he was as sweet as Stuart or as devious as Adam, both characters were the ultimate sun and moon of Pine Valley.

 

Jack (Terry LEster's potrayal; Y&R) As much as I love Bergman's potrayal, people forget Lester's version of Jack was as equivalent to JR Ewing. As villainous as he was you could still see the sympathetic side of yearning his mother's love while not dissapointing his father.

 

 

The Buchanans (OLTL): Another Dallas-esque characterization, Bo, Asa and Clint rejuvenated the soap and sustained its legacy for years to come.

 

Definitely should add Mac Cory from Another World to this list.  AW was never quite the same after his passing. And has any soap ended with a character that was off the show for 10 years as the final scene- after Rachel and Carl shut off the lights and the screen faded to black in the last episode, the final moment was a still of Mac Cory raising his glass to the audience one last time.

 

I'm a little surprised that Ridge Forrester hasn't been mentioned as an example from B&B. The whole show more or less revolved around him and his lovelife for years and years.

Mason Capwell and Cruz Castillo on Santa Barbara could maybe qualify.

Mason started out as somewhat of a rich sleaze, but his issues with his parents and his romances with both Mary and Julia fleshed him out, and he was hardly ever not front and center, especially with Lane Davies in the role. Gordon Thomson was also really good. Ironically, the one you'd think would have been just as great, Terry Lester [especially since - on paper - Mason and Jack had similar qualities/family structure], seemed to make Mason more of a comic sort of character [yes, the writing, but still].

And Cruz, well...he seemed on the periphery - until he sparked with Marcy Walker's Eden. Then he [and they] was/were everywhere. One could argue to the show's detriment, since, when Eden left, the character of Cruz floundered [with bad writing by then] and never really recovered.

Which is why I'm not surprised that A Martinez left for LA Law at the first opportunity.

On 11/27/2022 at 7:47 PM, kalbir said:

Y&R Summer 1994- Spring 1996 Bill Bell tried so hard to make Joshua Morrow happen.

It worked tbh.. Joshua Morris is a fan favorite and will always beloved.. His fans criticize some storys and pairings of him as Nick but they always want him around