ALL: Bad Moves by Well Regarded Soap Writers/EPs

[titan1978]

She did not have a good relationship with Wendy Riche at the time, due to complaining about Tracy being depicted as anti-choice. Riche said it was Jane’s personal beliefs clouding things, Jane said it was the character being forced to fit that was wrong. One of the few times Jane ever fought a story turn. She has spoken about Marland telling her to come back to New York, I can’t remember if there was an exact character yet though.

We know from Hogan Sheffer that Marland had bibles with characters not yet introduced and story directions we never got to see. I remember one of his first interviews when taking over ATWT he mentioned being given access to the story bibles the show had, and described those details and the brilliance of Marland’s planning.

Kay Alden’s initial story plans reigniting the Jill/Katherine story was incredibly smart. Bell did it himself in the early 80’s to great effect. 

[Khan]

As best as I can piece together, Douglas Marland wanted Jane Elliot to play Samantha.  On the one hand, seeing JE spar on-screen with the likes of Elizabeth Hubbard and (maybe) Terry Lester sounds heavenly.  On the OTHER hand, I'm not sure how convincing JE would have been as Lucinda's half-sister.  But that might be my painful memories of Brooke Alexander clouding the whole issue.

(I, myself, would have brought JE on as Carly and Rosanna's mom, Sheila Washburn Cabot.)

Actually, I think it was a little of both.  JE was joining ATWT, but if TSS had been sold to a network, then she likely would have (left ATWT and) joined that show, too.  IIRC, Douglas Marland had it in mind to pair her with Lane Davies (ex-Mason, SaBa) on his show, believing the two would have worked well together.

[BetterForgotten]

Jane also says she was originally slated to play Stephanie Forrester on B&B before Susan Flannery agreed and they let her go before production started. 

Stephanie is interesting because Bell apparently created her with Susan Seaforth Hayes in mind, but when she was asked, she was on a family vacation and couldn't accept in time. 

[Khan]

Granted, I've been a JE fan for as long as I can remember, but I think she was right to fight Wendy Riche on that issue.  I can't see Tracy Quartermaine as being anti-choice.  If anything, I think she's the type who would understand that a woman desired to terminate her pregnancy for no other reason than she just doesn't want to be pregnant.

To this day, however, I've been DYING to know what it was that Gloria Monty (allegedly) said either to JE or about her that made JE leave the first time around and stay gone for much of the '80's.  JE has remained very tight-lipped about what went down, but I can tell that whatever it was, it was BIG, lol.

You know, that whole situation kinda puzzles me?  I don't doubt that JE was supposed to be Stephanie, and that Bill Bell changed his mind about her after landing Susan Flannery.  But to go from Susan Seaforth Hayes, to Jane Elliot, to Susan Flannery...?  That suggests to me that they really weren't sure in the beginning who or what they envisioned Stephanie Forrester being.

[BetterForgotten]

Apparently, Gail Kobe was very involved in B&B's initial casting with Bell filling in the blanks for the rest with people he had worked with before. 

I agree that Stephanie evolved around Flannery's presence and credibility more than anything else. Nothing against the other actresses, but I can't really imagine them in that role.   

Edited December 11, 2024 by BetterForgotten

[Vee]

The part that still cracks me up was the 2013 anniversary interview with her, Kin, Tony, etc. where Jane triple-checks with the interviewer that both Gloria and her sister Norma are dead, dead, dead before discussing it.

I didn't know Jane was in line for Samantha. Her clashing with Liz Hubbard would've been a sight for the ages.

[dragonflies]

I don't know if this counts but Chuck Pratt telling Susan Lucci and basically all of the AMC cast to "forget what you know about your characters" 

[titan1978]

I think Jane has addressed it. She wanted more money with her new contract and Gloria balked, and called her professionalism in doubt for even asking. And Jane would not stand for that. Gloria’s secretary called Jane about the Emmy nominations and she came to the studio and nominated herself, and won, mostly out of spite after she was already gone.

The interesting thing is that Jane won some kind of soap award (maybe digest) during the transition from Monty to Riche, and she actually accepted the award and in her speech spoke about Gloria with the highest of respect, possibly not likening how ABC handled things. I saw it when falling in a YouTube hole recently.

I agree with Jane too- I think Tracy would be pro-choice. Especially because of her old money background.

As far as Stephanie goes, I wonder if Flannery moved the character into what he was reaching for in the first place. SSH has warmth and glamour, and Jane has a grit and snooty attitude down pat. But Flannery, when B&B began, brought the cerebral quality Bell loved. She would play the Oedipal, psycho-sexual themes surrounding her over- involvement with Ridge as actual subtext. 

[Maxim]

This reminds me of a scene... where Ridge told Stephanie what an amazing woman she is bla bla bla and she told him - In moments like these I'm sorry you are my son. This was in 1987... then they played it off like a joke. And who can forget Brooke telling Stephanie this exact thing in 1989.

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[Khan]

Well, it certainly didn't endear him to the AMC cast OR their fans, lol.

But seriously.  Unless you are Bill Bell or Douglas Marland, you cannot come aboard a long-running show like AMC and basically tell the cast you don't give a [!@#$%^&*] about their characters or their histories - "oh, by the way, gang: you better up your game and fast, 'cuz Jamie Luner's gonna blow you all out of the water!"  History was all AMC really had at that point, and you're telling us in so many words that it doesn't matter?  Again, you can't really tell people to forget what they know about their characters (or that you have them act out of character on the regular just to keep the folks at home guessing) if you don't have the track record to back up such bullshit - and I'm sorry, but Chuck Pratt did not have that kind of track record.

Honestly, I would not be surprised if Susan Lucci told him, "I was here long before you entered the picture, Mr. Pratt, and I will be here long after you leave it."

Edited December 11, 2024 by Khan

[Liberty City]

Nikki could've stolen Eric Forrester. 

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She was in-talks to join As the World Turns after leaving General Hospital in 1993 but, following Douglas Marland's death, those talks ended.

❝ After Days you went back to GH, right?
I was very happy at Days—I loved working with the executive producer, Al Rabin—but GH made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. More money. Days couldn’t match it, and I had taken a huge pay cut to go there, so I went back to GH. But then I left again because I was in talks with Doug Marland to go to As the World Turns. And then he died. I couldn’t get back on GH so Rabin hired me on his [syndicated] soap Valley of the Dolls to work with the actors as a dialogue coach. I observed Al as a producer and that was the precursor to my going back to New York to produce Loving for a year. I was fully prepared not to return to acting. ❞

⏤ Michael Logan, TV Insider

I don't think it was meant to be a full-time thing; if I recall, Jeanne Cooper was meant to brought into the storyline with Terry Lester. It was going to be a limited-run casting, and then she'd return to The Young and the Restless. But, when Marland passed, the storyline changed entirely.

[Vee]

I don't even know what The Soul Survivors is. More fool me.

[DRW50]

I think it was meant to be an urban-based, blue-collar soap.

[Franko]

It was the soap-to-be that supposedly Douglas Marland was tinkering with right up until his death.

[Soaplovers]

Jane Elliot would have been all wrong for Samantha.