ALL: Characters with less impact than you'd expect

[Franko]

The flip side to the thread about short lived characters with lasting impact.

I nominate Meredith Lord, OLTL. Yes, Larry and Dan remained on the canvas long after her death, but it feels like her place in the show's history and Lord family as a whole kept getting overshadowed as time went on and Victor gained illegitimate children with each new decade.

[Maxim]

Bold

Beth Logan - she could have been a much bigger impact. For God sake her daughter married the man she was in loved with her whole life.

Karen Spencer - one of the biggest character flops. Didn't go anywhere... The actress was completely wasted.

Donna Logan - at this point she is nothing but a background singer... And could have been written way smarter and sharper. She could have been Brooke's menacing sister. Bradley turned her into a boring muppet with boobs. The only thing she's done in the last 10 years is cry on cue and massage Eric's body with honey. 

 

I may add more later.

P.S I hope I am understanding and applying the topic in the right way. I am commenting on characters I expected to have way more impact and importance in the show.

 

 

P.S 2 this topic can be called The Bold And The Beautiful Character List... Since nearly 80 percent of Bradley Bell's character end up having minimal impact.

Edited October 28, 2024 by Maxim

[DramatistDreamer]

Even though I don’t watch daytime soaps anymore (hopefully this changes early next year), I would nominate Jill Foster Abbott. I am continually disappointed and shocked that a character who has been on the canvas since the earliest days of the Young and the Restless, who is portrayed by such a capable actress as Jess Walton has so little impact. And this was the case years before she moved to Oregon. The show often gave her B-level storylines for years before she decided to move. I have often posted that Jill should have not only been a major titan, on par with the likes of Victor Newman and Jack Abbott, she should also get the types of prominent storylines that they often get. The show has never thought to sideline Victor Newman but does so repeatedly to a character that outranks him in seniority.

[soapfan770]

@Maxim I think B&B wins this thread lol. So many, many characters ie have come and gone with zero impact on the show today. 

Outside of B&B there was quite a few characters who were major for years but their impact on the show ended with their  exits. Some were poised to be major characters but that ended up not being the case at all. A few examples include:

ATWT

Shannon O’Hara

Conor Walsh

Kirk Anderson 

Days

Brandon Walker

Mia McCormick

GL

Abby Bauer

Jesse Blue

Drew Jacobs

Gilly Grant

Y&R

Brittany Hodges

Ryan McNeil

Jana Hawkes

Cane Ashby

 

[Paul Raven]

Y&R finally, finally addressed Jack's long forgotten son Keemo by introducing Allie,Jack's grand daughter.

Was she bitter about being denied her family all those years? Not interested in a family she never knew? Intrigued to now be apart of a wealthy influential clan and ready to fight for her place in the family?

No,she was pretty much a bland good girl who accepted her new circumstances and left town without a fuss.

Years in the waiting and years of future story brushed aside.

[kalbir]

1992-1994 B&B had too many females in the early 30s age range (Brooke, Macy, Taylor, Karen, Sheila) and not enough storyline to go around so Karen got lost in the shuffle.

Edited October 29, 2024 by kalbir

[janea4old]

Interesting.  Meredith Lord had an impact on me personally (maybe not to the canvas of Llanview) but to me.   I was a teen watching her story live and it affected me.  I cried a lot.

Edited October 29, 2024 by janea4old

[Maxim]

And it was such a buzz-kill after the incredible run she had as Caroline. I was quite shocked by the D-level material they were giving her. And her exit... was so pathetic. 

The mid 90s was the culmination of this... SO many NEW characters that were coming and going... your head would spin. He didn't know what he was doing. Then he found some stability in late 1990s to mid 2000s... and then it all started again. Right now we are in a midst of a zero impact era -  every new face he's added these past few years... has flopped. It's like some kind of a joke. And the exits are more and more becoming bizarre. That's why he has to write Taylor/Ridge/Brooke triangle for the 9182th time. 

Edited October 29, 2024 by Maxim