Characters Without a Fanbase

[Contessa Donatella]

Okay, now that you say that I do remember that people thought that if they were together neither of them would mess anyone else up. 

[carolineg]

Anytime someone posts anything negative about Skye/RC there are a ton of fans who swear she was the greatest, that Jax/Skye was an amazing pairing, and she was robbed of all the Emmys.  And I know someone will come at me now and say she deserved Vanessa's emmy and maybe she did.  Whatever.  I think a lot of Skye love comes from Brenda hate.  And that's fine, but let's not pretend her character wasn't a hot mess of weird backstories, awful pairings, and several failed stints across ABC.  That said I do think she has a few stans and diehards.

I would propose GH's Courtney for this thread.  I know it was all a backstage thing to push ALW, but I need to know if anyone on this board is a fan of Courtney as a character.  Not because you hated Liz/Jason or Nik/Emily but because she was great as a character on her own.

I think Days Rafe also deserves a place on this thread.  He's been leading story for at least 15 years and I have no clue as to why.  He just bops along from story to story and love interest to love interest without doing anything useful.   I have never known him to have a large fanbase.

[Vee]

It's all untrue! And I actually like Skye and Robin Christopher in correct doses. But she was so forced into GH when she was on contract. I detested her presence being insinuated into the Qs and it was clear some of the post-JFP/McTavish writers did too. Yet as soon as I began to enjoy her going in and out for short runs to mix things up they haven't brought her back in over ten years.

Rafe is unbearable.

Edited September 27, 2023 by Vee

[Contessa Donatella]

@carolineg   As soon as I saw you post Rafe I started laughing & I haven't stopped. It's so true. Galen is a nice guy, hard worker, good work ethic, journeyman actor, great looking and just nothing works for his character. For months he was stuck with a dadgummed stuffed bear as a scene partner! 

[Bright Eyes]

For some reason, Corday is really taken with Galen Gering. He only worked on the show during the time Rafe was running some club after being fired from being a cop for a reason I don't remember. I do think he succeeds when they give him comedy. That's where his talent lies. Probably should have been more of a Eugene instead of a bad Roman rip-off.

Edited September 27, 2023 by Bright Eyes

[carolineg]

I swear my most hated post on here ever was from years ago and I said I thought RC was cold and unlikeable as Skye lol!  Posters told me I was so wrong.  I don't think they frequent this board anymore, but I was surprised how much people liked her and liked Jax/Skye.  Like it wasn't an obvious rush job pairing to give the returning Brenda an obstacle for Jax.  The show never even tried them again post-Brenda.  C'mon!  I do think RC is a decent actress and have advocated a Lila Rae/Skye return as you know, but she had no business on the GH canvas at the time in the middle of all the Q's.

Outside his early stuff with Sami, Rafe has been useless for years.  Wandering around town as an incompetent police officer bouncing from pairing to pairing.  Then the show fired GG and immediately brought him back a few years ago.  I don't even think it was because of fan outcry.  I think GG is just a likable guy on set and people like working with him.  I think we are stuck with Rafe forever!

Edited September 27, 2023 by carolineg

[Bright Eyes]

Summer 2003 was when I first watched GH, which was the first time watching an ABC soap. I was an impressionable 13/14 years old at the time and Robin Christopher/Skye quickly became my favourite on the show. I didn't know the history of the show or the character, or anything about Brenda, who I was not in favour of against Skye or even Carly (at that point). I am one of the people that think Robin Christopher deserved the Emmy more that year, even in retrospect. However, the knowledge I have now, I never would have put her on GH in the first place and done all that nonsense. She belongs on AMC, where I'd make her Stuart's daughter once and for all. In all that time, I've also come around to appreciate Brenda and her history on the show and very much enjoy the in-depth discourse that's been had about her here. Time is a funny thing though, because I swear that in the past my now minority opinion about Robin Christopher was the majority here.

[DynamiteKiddo]

When I started watching GH, Skye was on and sorta in the thick of everything.  I loved her--I loved that she was a counterpoint to the writers'/producers' (OBVIOUS) favorites, but she wasn't portrayed as a loathsome, pitiable loser (like anyone else anti-mob).  I also loved that she was an ally to my all-time fav. character, AJ.  But in hindsight, I clearly see how shamelessly shoehorned she was into the show, the Qs, and like all her pairings in JFP's quest to keep RC front and center.  But I will say I really did like her as a Q, probably because I never knew her as a Chandler and never knew the Qs without her . . . I imagine it's because their animosity was in direct conflict of Guza and Phelps' goals, but I thought there was a lot to mine with Jason/Skye, esp. after Alan and Emily's deaths.  And I also think Skye is a really effective activator--she really got everyone worked up.  And even though it wasn't explored, like, at all--she could have been a foil to Carly, insofar as they both had these opposite sex alliances that were in direct contrast to each other . . . but the show always highlighted that with Alexis instead--while Carly always had ride or die loyalty with Jason and Sonny, she had it with Jax and Ned (but so did Skye + with Luke).  Anyway, her pop ins were real jolts to the show and while I don't watch GH anymore, I think it's less without her.  But I don't find GH remotely recognizable to what I grew up watching.

But I certainly remember her having hella stans bitd and I don't think it was just because they may have been anti-Brenda lol.  I do remember the worst thing they did with her, imo, was un-retconning her being Alan's bio daughter to pair her with Ned (?!?) while Alexis was doing drag all in the pursuit of baby Kristina, who Sonny obvs. still thought was Ned's.  OMFG lol.

As far as DAYS' Rafe . . . I think he has been likable in the comedic himbo stuff (particularly during TomSell post-Sami and pre-Jordan), but I can't understand it, either.  Who are his fans?!?  Who were Daniel's?!?  I remember reading that at the time that "Days" was heavily relying on focus groups and that those two supposedly always scored very high.  "Days" has very desperately tried to make a lot of characters happen in the past 10-15 years and I think the randomness of it may be tied to the tape-air lag . . . the writers are really pushing their visions completely free of audience feedback-interference.

[carolineg]

You make some valid points here.  I would argue that Skye was made to be a loser a lot though.   Even in the end she lost all of Alcazar's money and needed Jax's help to get it back.  She was a drunk and a screw up, complacent in her baby daddy's murder and un-Q'ed in the end and we still don't know who her father is lol.   I always considered Skye as a character who couldn't get out of her own way and couldn't find happiness across all the ABC soaps she was on.

Anyway, I am sure not all RC/Skye stans like her because of Brenda, but I think there was a lot of goodwill from the audience because she was done wrong by Jax/Brenda (mostly Jax) and RC did well with some strong material.  Plus, I think Skye was an easy character to root for because if you didn't like Brenda in 2002 and watched GH there wasn't a lot for you to like lol.  

[dragonflies]

I liked Skye on OLTL, and felt they tried too hard with her on GH, I hate the retcon of making her not be Adam's daughter

[Contessa Donatella]

Now, see, I wanted her to be Rae's long lost child. But, I also wanted Rae to stop going from show to show & settle on one. But, it would've been too cool for Dano/Cristopher to play mother/daughter on two different soaps. 

[DynamiteKiddo]

I do think that Skye was a loser, esp. re.: Brenda and the mob four always got their digs, but it was probably Phelps who ensured she always got strong p.o.v. and she was the star of her own stories . . . like compare her to AJ, Zander, (GV's) Lucky, etc. lolol.  There is a huge difference.  Phelps also distinguished Rick Hearst's Ric from the other "losers" with lots of p.o.v. and and prominence, but Skye was like . . . sort of a main main character . . . esp. during the Luke/Heather Webber era.  But she was absolutely self-destructive and unlucky, but that's why I really loved her.  Her brief turn as a sorta heroine with Luke was when the character was at her worst, imo.  Btw, ita that their is a steely coldness to the character and RC's portrayal . . . but I thought that really worked and was who the character was.  I can't recall what was happening bts, but I think she and Ric could have settled into a nice pairing but I can also agree with the sentiment that she's more effective as an activator who comes in for a good few weeks a year to f s up.  I also think Megan Ward's Kate was really, really taking off around the time RC left in an on-contract capacity and she filled the rich ice queen quota on the canvas much better at the time.

I remember the Brenda year being must-see and when she left, the show crashed . . . but the show also stopped for Brenda, which is unwise imo and creatively problematic.  But I absolutely love Brenda when she's not up Sonny's ass.  Like, I am no Jax & Brenda fan, but if some fans shipped Jax & Skye to spite Brenda, I appreciate Jax because I hate Sonny and Jason lol.

[carolineg]

Very true about Ric/Skye.  They did have prominence, but there was a clear push and pull between JFP and the writing for both characters.  They would never win against the big four but were also shoehorned into primary families to be relevant, although they never exactly fit on canvas they were given lots of story.  I'll be honest and say I don't really get the Ric Hearst love either.   I thought Ric was an absolute awful character that I had to deal with far too long.  I did like him when he was first introduced and they seem to be hinting he was related to Lily and the early part of his pairing with Liz.  I just think Ric is a character that should have caused some havoc in Sonny's world and left.  I am not sure what stopped the Ric/Skye pairing, but I do think at some point JFP lost any power over Guza and that's when both characters faded away.  Like I said earlier, I wouldn't be opposed to a Skye visit and her bringing Lila Rae to town today.

I loved me some Jax/Brenda.  Even as a Sonny/Brenda diehard I adored the J&B pairing.  I always felt 2002 ruined them for me.  Between Jax dumping Skye and then him pressuring Brenda to marry him right away then leaving her at the actual altar it was just an awful look for Jax.  I actually think Jax came out the biggest loser in the entire return.

[DynamiteKiddo]

I totally agree about Ric.  I thought Rick Hearst was real talented, but he could do weaselie almost too good lol.  (A critique I’ve heard about Billy Warlock’s AJ, too.) His turn as a romantic lead with Alexis was so bad, imo.  For a min. when they had him as the slimey DA who was obsessed with Liz again and they brought on his dad who was connected to Kate, I thought he worked well in that capacity… iirc, the whole show was really working then.  But then after Skye left, I think I remember Garin Wolf giving him some really strange immigration love interest/triangle with his dad that was disastrous!  That was my only miss of the last writer’s strike.

I always felt like Guza was honestly hate writing for Jax lol.  Like he was begrudgingly forced to make him the dopey hero to Sonny’s supposedly much more interesting rogue.

[Antoyne]

I will take no Ric slander

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. He was my favorite character on the show. But man they always made sure to make him a loser.