Character connections that were lost.

[Paul Raven]

I feel that this has happened at every soap, past and present at one time or another.

Two characters become close via a variety of circumstances and regularly share scenes. Then the story moves on and former friends hardly or never share a scene for whatever reason.

Marlena and Maggie on Days is a prime example. The reason seems to be backstage tension b/w those 2 actresses  but when was the last time they interacted.?

On Y&R I recall Abby and Lily being gal pals a few years back but have they caught up recently? i guess a change in writers and less crossover of stories due to budget might account for that.

Any other examples come to mind?

[watson71]

When Jensen Buchanan was playing Vicky on Another World and got a helicopter written into her contract to take her to/from the studio, the character of Vicky from 1996-99 was in a bubble only interacting with certain characters- Jake, Donna, Shane, Marley etc.  She rarely interacted with the rest of the cast in any storylines.  Rachel was Steven’s grandmother and Vicky and Rachel never had any scenes together for those last couple of years of the show.

[kalbir]

Y&R Katherine and Nikki were absent from each other's lives from 1990-1992. This overlapped w/ Nikki's substance abuse and Katherine's cancer scare. I think the lack of Katherine/Nikki interaction was due to MTS having beef w/ JC at the time.

Edited January 22, 2023 by kalbir

[Darn]

This low rated show acquiesced to the demands of an actress who wasn't even bringing in viewers. Insane.

[Bright Eyes]

Typical of NBC business operations though.

[carolineg]

Marlena/Maggie is the first one that popped into my mind too.

John/Kate interact occasionally, but you would never know they were once in love and engaged.  That was wiped from history apparently.  I don't expect them to talk about it or anything, but the show acts like they are casual acquaintances.

Hope/Claire was another poorly defined relationship.  You knew Hope was Claire's grandma, but most of the time Hope showed little interest in her.

[j swift]

This goes out to all the step-parents

Y&R - Jack and Nick, before Nick was SORASed and Jack was involved with Niki, there was frequent dialogue about Jack coaching Nick's baseball team and being a supportive step-father, but until they struggled over Phyllis they barely acknowledged each other.

DAYS - Rafe was in Johnny and Allie's lives probably as long as EJ, yet they hardly ever reference that in scenes.

GH - I wonder if Molly knows that Liz was once married her father?

[Vee]

I still don't know what period it was when they apparently floated recasting Vicky with Kelly Rutherford (Generations, later of Melrose Place). Cynthia Watros did a temp fill-in for Jensen late in the run, after GL. Anne Heche, who was a movie star at that point, wanted to do it as a favor to the show but her agents vetoed it. Meanwhile they kept rolling out the red carpet for Jensen.

[Markjeh]

I'm screaming at this. I mean why won't you if they are foolish enough to say yes to that. Sounds like it leaves big dent in the budget though.

[teplin]

Maybe the NBC brass was aware that Jensen was a DUI waiting to happen. 

[Vee]

This isn't even getting to the part where post-AW, JFP still considered Jensen a huge enough draw to pull her out of her guest stint as Vicky's ghost on ATWT mid-stream to get her onto GH as quickly as possible once she took over that show, leading to legal action from CBS/P&G when JB was airing on both shows at the same time. Buchanan's brief run on GH was one of the most unpopular forced new leads ever, and led to the downfall of both JFP and McTavish at that show.

[Darn]

This is off-topic but the idea of bringing on a star from the canceled show onto your show and making them a star on that show has always befuddled me. I know the idea is to possibly draw any audience from the canceled show but soaps have always made stars, it’s been rare that a soap star has been as successfully on another show as their most famous role yet this keeps happening.

Back on topic, I’ve always hated that even though John raised Sami and Eric he was treated like an interloper. He was their father during their formative years. And I actually think that makes for a more interesting story. Torn between the love they have for the man who raised them and their biological father. Also Marlena was a defacto mother for Brady but as soon as he was aged up he hated her.

[Vee]

It always annoyed me. They resolved this finally in the mid-2000s with Sami and John IIRC, but then regressed it back later. I think they're on better terms again now.

[soapfan770]

Something more recent I’ve noticed Lauren and Phyllis as friends on Y&R. I’m not sure when their friendship went awry but they hardly interact anymore and both are now apprehensive of each other for the most part.

Holden and Emily on ATWT is another one that comes to mind.  Also unfortunately Barbara lost her ties to Kim and Lisa following the spa storyline and just never fully recovered them. 

 

And yes there was there was strange disconnect on Days after John realized he wasn’t Roman, which is why I always thought the Tale of Two Romans plot was so pointlessly unnecessary in the long run of everything. 
 

And the strange connection between Nicole and Chloe has felt a bit lost over the years, although their unlikely friendship was strange to begin with but was fun because it occurred when both characters behaved at their worst lol. 

LOL. Sami and John were on decent terms until JER regressed her substantially and she absolutely hated John. Then during the Sheffer years she and John made up, she even named her son in his honor as he was presumed dead at that point. Then in 2011 under Poulter/Thomas she regressed again towards to John. 

Edited January 22, 2023 by soapfan770

[SteelCity]

I'm opposed to giving any actor that much control, especially one so replaceable.