Character connections that were lost.

[Soaplovers]

Holden and Emily... blame the performers for that because they were married and said they requested not to work together so much.

 

Y & R:

Danny/Traci/Lauren.  While Traci/lauren still interacted on and off through the years... After 1986, Traci/Danny didn't interact as much (other then at his concerts), and after 1987 Lauren/Danny stopped interacting as much (other then at his concerts).  

GL:

Nadine/Holly:  They were co-workers/friends in the late 80s/early 90s.. but by 1992/3.. Nadine and Holly ever interacted with Nadine trapped in the Cooper bubble.. and Holly in the Thorpe/Springfield Journal bubble.

Holly/Michelle:  They were close in 1993/4... drifted apart until 1998 where Michelle/Holly had coffee on occasion at Company.. and then stopped interacting with one another again until the mid 2000s during that weird Sebastian story (though I did like that the show had Claire and Holly had a scene where both discussed their shared connections with Fletcher and michelle).

Hilary/Josh: Oddly the two of them were friends pre Reva's arrival in Springfield.  In fact, they were on a friend date when Reva made her debut in Springfield... but then they stopped interacting thereafter.

 

[janea4old]

Originally it was Michael and Phyllis as close friends.  Lauren came later as Michael's wife, but it used to be Phyllis/Michael first, and I miss that. Michael asked Phyllis to be his "best man" (well, "best woman") when he married Lauren.  Phyllis went to Michael's bachelor party and smoked cigars with the guys.

Edited January 22, 2023 by janea4old

[soapfan770]

LOL well Galen Gering and Eric Martsolf have been Days stars for almost 15 years now after Passions was cancelled.

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But I understand your point. ATWT took in a few AW stars for a couple years there with storylines that ended up displeasing both ATWT and AW fans.

Marcy Walker was shoved down GL fans throats as Tangie.

MAB’s Y&R misused, abused, and obliterated John Driscoll, Jeff Branson, Maura West, Debbi Morgan, Darnell Williams, and Jennifer Landon. Did I miss anyone? 
 

B&B threw around some Sunset Beach actors for a few years there as well as reuniting two former GL actors for a storyline that went went completely awry. 

[Darn]

Again off-topic I've love for someone to drum up a list of stars who transitioned to equal unquestionable success on a different soap. So not just "oh they went to a different show and stayed for years." but they were critically lauded and loved by fans. Like Cady McClain as Rosanna on ATWT.

I didn't like how Erica and Janet's friendship was forgotten as the years went on. Was Erica involved at all when Janet came back all regressed and played by Kate Collins again?

[soapfan770]

It was originally Michael and Phyllis as friends for many many years. Then there was the particular period when Nick & Phyllis were married they were always over at Michael & Lauren’s and the four became best friends. It was odd but it was something I found decent about the Latham era even though I disliked Nick & Phyllis together. But then Lauren and Phyllis stayed friends on the side for several years as well. I recall Lauren and GT Phyllis fell out after GT Phyllis and Michael had schemed to throw Victor’s case which led to Michael almost getting disbarred, but then Lauren asked for Phyllis help during Fenmore’s troubles after she and Jack split. I don’t even feel Phyllis has a friendship with Michael anymore as well.

 

@Soaplovers I had known that was the case but the show took it to the extreme that Holden and Emily never interacted lol. 

@Darn I recall buried somewhere in the archives on this board during the 2020 quarantine we had an extensive topic about what you mentioned, definitely be worthwhile to talked about again.

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[Darn]

Ahh wha haven't we discussed on this board lol if anyone can find it that would be amazing

[Markjeh]

I thought Jake's crossover and romance with Molly was pretty well received? The others were just occasional guest stints that didn't really matter much I think. 

I remember my grandmother (who got me into ATWT and sadly passed away a few weeks ago) being in shock and disbelief when Jake McKinnon was killed off on As the World Turns. It's of the few memories I actually have of watching the show with her. Of course that's just a sample of 1 person... 

[Darn]

It was, as a non-AW viewer I liked them a lot. Tom Eplin and Lesli Kay had amazing chemistry. I can't remember if he chose to leave or if they let him go.

It's interesting when shifting timelines cause character connections to get lost. Since the actress who played/plays Emma on GH has been allowed to age in real time but the characters she was surrounded by were SORASed it's now this weird thing where people she was literally in a love triangle with at 8 years old are now 20 or 21 and she's only 16.

You'll see an old clip of someone holding a baby and then 15 years later they're lovers. The way Sami's husband EJ, a man with whom she has 3 children, was born after her adult son.

Edited January 22, 2023 by Darn

[soapfan770]

Initially it wasn’t received by well with fans as I clearly remember there was fears about Goutman and a AW takeover of the show online at the point especially since ATWT also was moved over to AW’s old filming studios. I think the backlash is why Cass and Lila didn’t stay permanently as was intended. Oh for sure Jake & Molly were great but in the end Jake and Vicky both were killed off violently on ATWT while Marley & Donna were portrayed as mean spirited and heartless when it came to abruptly yanking the twins away from adoptive mother Molly. 

[Planet Soap]

Y&R: Paul & Lauren

[INFJWill]

Y&R is especially bad at keeping up those ancillary connections. Both in the case of former friends/lover but also extended family & step children. 

For example if you weren't watching back then you'd have no idea Paul & Lauren were once married. I can't remember a solo scene between them post early 2000's. 

Also thought it was a missed opportunity ignoring the connection between Kyle & Victor. They shared some really sweet paternal scenes during the Blake Hood/Maura West era. I can't recall MM's Kyle ever crossing paths with Victor.

Ditto for Jack and his former stepchildren. I get why he and Nick wouldn't be super close given the love triangles. But Victoria  and him seemingly never interact. Likewise Noah and Jack grew close during his marriage to Sharon, which the writers have collectively decided to pretend never happened. 

Other examples...Chance/Chloe, Sharon/Devon & Lily

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by INFJWill
Double text

[j swift]

Can we call it early and put Y&R Jack and his granddaughter Allie on this list?

Also, did anyone on the production staff recall that Cricket was John Abbott's stepdaughter for a moment when he died?

[DeliaIrisFan]

To play devil's advocate, you could argue Beverlee McKinsey on GL was a transplant from a canceled soap (Texas).  But I am guessing it wasn't so much that they were creating a character specifically for BM, but rather they needed someone who could fill Chris Bernau's shoes.  Alex's entrance story was Alan's (first) exit, right?  So they created a new character that filled a void and identified an appropriate performer who happened to have soap experience, which probably made a difference.

I can't imagine they actually subjected Beverlee to any screen testing with existing cast members, so it could have ended up being a complete flop.  But she was one of the best in the biz, and the comparatively luxurious amount of rehearsal time back then probably helped her build a rapport with acting partners and flesh out some distinctive elements to this new character.

I would guesstimate that creating characters for specific actors from other soaps has historically worked more often when writers have been the ones to come up with the idea, as opposed to producers.  At least, going by the instances when it's a safe bet as to who was responsible, i.e., when someone behind the scene worked with the actor previously.  At least if the one working out who the character is in their head knows the performer's past work and has been inspired by them enough to create a character they want to write for, there's a chance it could work.

  

This is a tangent, but I re/watched 1993 GL recently (I had seen some but clearly not all of that), and the way Nadine immediately shed all connections outside of Buzz and his/their children after her marriage to Billy ended was really striking.  In part because so much of the rest of the show was still true to life and/or character history.  Meanwhile, Nadine accepted such a paltry divorce settlement from an oil tycoon that she ended up waiting tables at a diner before the papers were even finalized (in the Caribbean, after she signed away power of attorney so Billy could expedite his remarriage to Vanessa).

I imagine a lot of that had to do with centering Buzz as a newly minted patriarch - the only one who could bail the Cooper family out in an emergency.  I also think there may have been a concerted effort to avoid reminding viewers of Nadine's role in Peter's origin story.  Perhaps someone realized that keeping a pregnant teenager in one's attic as a de facto handmaid is pretty much irredeemable.  Speaking of dropped character connections, Nadine and Bridget rarely if ever interacted after that, even when they were in group scenes.

Maybe Jordan Clarke's abrupt exit also was a factor...

Edited January 23, 2023 by DeliaIrisFan

[Vee]

I seem to recall Erica and Janet getting a lot of airtime together in the last year or two when they did that Erica double storyline or something (the double's name was Jane). I think they were in a hospital together? I may be wrong. I know that part of the aim of Agnes and Lorraine Broderick in the last few months was clearly to re-humanize Janet more. She was still very loopy but she was presented as the daffy mother trying to be there for her daughter with cancer or whatever it was Amanda had. I thought Collins was very good, though it was a world away from the Janet Robin Mattson had played.

IIRC they let him go. It may partly have had to do with Eplin's well-known even then sex pest behavior. He was a great, sexy actor whose work I miss but he had a reputation which has only gotten worse since social media.

Edited January 23, 2023 by Vee

[Planet Soap]

You'd think Sharon would be a close aunt/unnoficial surrogate mother to them especially since Olivia, Malcolm (and now Neil) isn't around but nope. Tey've just erased any idea that Sharon and Dru were best friends--a friendship that I must say felt random.

I've said this before but I dont know what it is about Young and Restless that they are so bad at maintaining past charachter connections and evoking history. They'll take the time to endlessly mention one or two speciffic events like Victor and Nikki's wedding and Katherine's drunken divorce however.

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by ironlion