33 minutes ago, carolineg said:

For some reason John/Kate made sense to me in the moment.  Obviously it was convenient since both Roman and Marlena "died", but it worked well with John's drug addiction and the Sami/Lucas and Belle/Phillip antics at the time.  Lauren and Drake had some chemistry as well.  I know the entire pairing was extremely unpopular with the John/Marlena fans though.

They had chemistry and all but, it was super rushed! Didn't they get engaged in like two months. There was no build up.

1 hour ago, SteelCity said:

They had chemistry and all but, it was super rushed! Didn't they get engaged in like two months. There was no build up.

It was super rushed and ultimately pretty pointless.  No one ever brings up John/Kate were engaged.  I chalk some of the rush up to John's addiction issues although the entire quad of Roman/Marlena/Kate/John was awful.  John/Kate were better than Roman/Marlena though.

6 minutes ago, carolineg said:

John/Kate were better than Roman/Marlena though.

Anything was better than Josh Taylor's Roman and Marlena.

6 minutes ago, Khan said:

Anything was better than Josh Taylor's Roman and Marlena.

I obviously agree lol.  I should have worded it better.  John/Kate weren't half bad even if they had some crappy writing.

4 hours ago, carolineg said:

I obviously agree lol.  I should have worded it better.  John/Kate weren't half bad even if they had some crappy writing.

I tend to agree with you in hindsight. They could work with better writing but, those post JER years were... something. Lots of insta-couples.

1 hour ago, SteelCity said:

I tend to agree with you in hindsight. They could work with better writing but, those post JER years were... something. Lots of insta-couples.

Those JER years were a mess (he wrote John/Kate I believe).  I could see why Kate and John would be attracted to one another, so it did make sense to me especially coming off losing their 'true' loves.  It was less forced than John/Hope and I think it would have had more of a chance if the John/Marlena fangirls weren't so loudly, openly, and rudely against it.

2 minutes ago, carolineg said:

Those JER years were a mess (he wrote John/Kate I believe).  I could see why Kate and John would be attracted to one another, so it did make sense to me especially coming off losing their 'true' loves.  It was less forced than John/Hope and I think it would have had more of a chance if the John/Marlena fangirls weren't so loudly, openly, and rudely against it.

Then it was just dropped completely as though it never happened! You'd never know they have that kind of history.

I'll add John and Barbara on ATWT. Both had been on the show for years and interacting to various degrees before getting into a relationship. Seemed like something to give 2 vet characters at loose ends a story.

Hal/Emily, ATWT. 

John & Barbara definitely feel like one. Even at the time, when I didn't know the history of the show that well, it felt random as hell. That was a period when it seemed like Barbara could've faded into obscurity.

Hal & Emily might've been borne out of convenience, too, but I thought that pairing worked well and created some interesting material.

AMC

Tom and Donna

GL:

Blake/Josh (they were tested after Reva/Jeffery were well received as a couple)

Holly/Billy

Holy/Buzz

 

ATWT:

Lily/Mike (they were supposed to be paired in 1996 until Shawn Christian opted to leave since Holden/Damian were no longer there and Rosanna/Carly were no longer there).

 

2 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

GL:

Blake/Josh (they were tested after Reva/Jeffery were well received as a couple)

I was not watching at this time. I can't see them together, but it would have been more interesting than Josh and Cassie.

On 6/2/2024 at 4:48 PM, Michael said:

John & Barbara definitely feel like one. Even at the time, when I didn't know the history of the show that well, it felt random as hell. That was a period when it seemed like Barbara could've faded into obscurity.

agreed that it was random. but, i’ll never forget that screen with larry bryggman in a rocking chair saying goodby to their baby (can’t remember the name).

Pat Randolph and Brian Bancroft on Another World around 1982. Two characters of approximately the same age who had been on AW for years, but always connected to other people. In 1982, it seemed the writers had nothing better to do with either Pat or Brian, so they put them into a short-lived romance. Both were extremely good actors, but even that couldn't make the romance seem organic and real. Needless to say, it didn't work.