Couples That Dominated and then Disappeared

[Broderick]

That's the first one I thought of -- summer of 1980.  Whenever Kelly would even glance at that little girl, "You Needed Me" by Anne Murray would start playing, and the little girl would start whining, "But what about Laurel Falls?" (or whatever that rural/rustic place was where he kissed her).  After a few interminable episodes of that mess, I couldn't even tolerate the Anne Murray song when it came on the radio. 

Then we had to relive the whole saga a few years later on World Turns with Lily Walsh, Holden, and Dusty, with our rural/rustic spot being moved from Laurel Falls to Luther's Corners or the Snyder Pond or the Snyder Barn, where Lily always needed to go "sort things out".  (But at least this incarnation wasn't as wholesomely sappy as Kelly and Morgan on Guiding Light, and it lacked the grating Anne Murray soundtrack, and at least it amounted to something in the long-term.)  

 

[teplin]

AW: Sally and Catlin. I was watching only sporadically when they were prominent, and every time I tuned in it was all about them. By the time I was watching regularly again, Mary Page Keller was gone, the character of Sally was dead, and Thomas Ian Griffith was in a story with Sharon Gabet. 

[heffos]

Another GL- Dylan and Sam. They were pushing the couple in the tradition of giving young couples hot storylines. Then Sam got crippled in the car accident that "killed" Reva. It looked like they were going into a love triangle by pushing Daniel St. John as her doctor. However, they quickly pulled Dylan away from them and Daniel was paired up with Holly and the story was dropped. Sam soon left town and Dylan was regulated to being a third wheel for Eleni, not really getting any storylines until the Bridget/Julie triangle a while later.

[Melroser]

I always thought AW's Adam and MJ ended too soon. Both characters from the (then) prominent McKinnon and Cory families. I enjoyed them as a couple. MJ was turned into a former hooker and it was revealed to Adam. Then they were done. 

Also, AW. Sam and Amanda were hot in the beginning. The "good girl"/"bad boy" (because it was Rachel's daughter and Mitch's brother) pairing made great story. Once Olivia was thrown into the mix, the coupling tanked for me. The many recasts of Sam didn't help.