1 minute ago, Vee said:

or he just needs to pay some tuition lol.

Thank God I don't have kids, lol.

Don Stewart as Mike Bauer on Guiding Light. I'm not sure if Mike ever had a big fan favorite before him (Gary Pilar may be closest) but Don seemed to define the character very quickly - he's already getting major coverage in soap magazines around 1969 and 1970.

Melody Thomas as Nikki Reed on Y&R was completely different from Erica Hope. Erica Hope always seemed grouchy, angry, and casually whorish, while Melody Thomas debuted as more of a smiling, airheaded dingbat who could be easily convinced to do anything, no matter how lurid it was. I felt like the audience warmed up to her immediately. (Though I still think of her as the New Nikki, lol.)

11 hours ago, Broderick said:

Melody Thomas as Nikki Reed on Y&R was completely different from Erica Hope. Erica Hope always seemed grouchy, angry, and casually whorish, while Melody Thomas debuted as more of a smiling, airheaded dingbat who could be easily convinced to do anything, no matter how lurid it was. I felt like the audience warmed up to her immediately. (Though I still think of her as the New Nikki, lol.)

I agree; she really did reinvent the role of Nikki with her casting, and rightfully so.

22 hours ago, AMCOLTLLover said:

Roger Howarth as Franco on GH.

Farah as Mimi Lockhart on Days!

Peter as Jack Abbott on Y&R

The first two: NOPE

1 hour ago, dragonflies said:

The first two: NOPE

Why wouldn't Farah Fath be in the category of easily accepted as Mimi? She was. The first actress appeared in only a few episodes.

Bree Williamson as Jessica on OLTL

David Fumero as Christian

Edited 8 hours ago8 hr by Marco Dane

19 hours ago, Broderick said:

Melody Thomas as Nikki Reed on Y&R was completely different from Erica Hope. Erica Hope always seemed grouchy, angry, and casually whorish, while Melody Thomas debuted as more of a smiling, airheaded dingbat who could be easily convinced to do anything, no matter how lurid it was. I felt like the audience warmed up to her immediately. (Though I still think of her as the New Nikki, lol.)

Erica Hope original recipe Nikki Reed was a troublemaking promiscuous girl. Melody Thomas Nikki Reed wanted to be loved and adored and cared for but she was lacking in both book smarts and street smarts, thus the shady modeling agency that was a front for prostitution, the cult, the pole.

Could you imagine Erica Hope as Nikki Newman the OG ho turned housewife who then became snooty lady of the manor and eventually a matriarch/grande dame?

8 hours ago, dragonflies said:

The first two: NOPE

7 hours ago, carolineg said:

Why wouldn't Farah Fath be in the category of easily accepted as Mimi? She was. The first actress appeared in only a few episodes.

Yeah, I agree. I remember FF was accepted pretty easily. And that was helped by the writers doing what you should do with a new character...letting the audience get used to them SLLLLLLOWWWLLY before giving them major story.

7 hours ago, Marco Dane said:

Bree Williamson as Jessica on OLTL

David Fumero as Christian

Yes to Bree because she looked so much like Erin Tropey then that people were doing double takes.

David...Uuuuhhh I don't remember it that way, but I'm probably wrong.

On 12/1/2025 at 1:20 PM, titan1978 said:

I still don’t fully understand what happened BTS with Franco at the end. It’s never been quite clear to me why they killed him just to have Howarth back back back again as Austin. I’m not saying I wanted Franco on the show or with Liz. But there was more audience support there than with Liz and Finn.

Jesus Christ poor Becky Herbst.

WHOOP there it is!!

2 minutes ago, Taoboi said:

Yeah, I agree. I remember FF was accepted pretty easily. And that was helped by the writers doing what you should do with a new character...letting the audience get used to them SLLLLLLOWWWLLY before giving them major story.

I am not sure there was anything to accept lol. The actress that played Mimi originally was only in a few episodes. Most people probably don't even know FF didn't originate the role. It's like the actor that briefly originated Phillip before JKJ-no one remembers.

I am no huge Farah Fath fan, but there weren't any big shoes to fill. She made the character of Mimi. And, yeah, it took Mimi like 2 years to get a story lol.

3 minutes ago, carolineg said:

I am not sure there was anything to accept lol. The actress that played Mimi originally was only in a few episodes. Most people probably don't even know FF didn't originate the role. It's like the actor that briefly originated Phillip before JKJ-no one remembers.

I am no huge Farah Fath fan, but there weren't any big shoes to fill. She made the character of Mimi. And, yeah, it took Mimi like 2 years to get a story lol.

To be fair, I remember both and liked both.

Also you are proving my point. ;P Because they would have complained if she immediately got story from the jump like soap audiences always do with new characters. By the two year mark, she earned having a story about her because FF truly made Mimi hers.

Just remembered another one, going back...but Zander Smith on GH. Actor Marc Brett originated the role, the stereotypical brute/heavy.

Then Chad Brannon took over, continued the story and kidnapped Amber Tamblyn's Emily Quartermaine, people loved them (me included!), and the rest was history. (If I recall, Brannon himself said the role was only supposed to be short term, but again, the audience responded to Zander and Emily, despite the show valiantly pushing Juan/Emily, and it was another instance of the writers thankfully going where the chemistry took them. Not bad for what was supposed to be short-term, even getting a father in Lane Davies' Cameron [albeit written terribly!] and a friendship with NLG's Alexis...)

Sucks that the character became roadkill for recast Emily/Nik, but at least Brannon got the Emmy for his trouble, and a lookalike flew off in a plane with Rebecca, Emily's out-of-the-blue twin, Rebecca (which made zero sense given the Paige Bowen story, but hey...).

Edited 36 minutes ago36 min by Wendy

It seems that Barbara Rodell,replacing Lynne Adams, was well accepted as Leslie on TGL .So much so that when Lynne took back the role a lot of viewers preferred the chemistry b/w Barbara and Don Stewart as Mike to that of Lynne and Don.

2 minutes ago, Wendy said:

Just remembered another one, going back...but Zander Smith on GH. Actor Marc Brett originated the role, the stereotypical brute/heavy.

Then Chad Brannon took over, continued the story and kidnapped Amber Tamblyn's Emily Quartermaine, people loved them (me included!), and the rest was history.

Sucks that the character became roadkill for recast Emily/Nik, but at least Brannon got the Emmy for his trouble, and a lookalike flew off in a plane with Rebecca, Emily's out-of-the-blue twin, Rebecca (which made zero sense given the Paige Bowen story, but hey...).

I agree with all of this. I liked the stereotypical brute myself and didn't expect much other than the typical story. Then Chad came in...and you felt the chemistry from the first frame with AT's Emily and was for them in spite of myself.

And YES to that Rebecca ending. Lord...Chad has aged so well.