@AmandainNC28655 -Totally agree with you on Cady as Jennifer. I liked her version much better than the brittle Jen we have now

I can only really see Melissa Reeves as Jennifer, even if Cady is overall a stronger actress when given the right material and role.

As for Cady on ATWT, I didn't ever get involved in her stories due to her love interests and how bad the writing was, but I think she was an improvement over Yvonne Perry, who wasn't much of an actress.

I was thinking on AW that Robert Hogan as Vince McKinnon and Marcus Smythe as Peter Love were accepted even though each was totally different than the previous actors.

Robert and Denise Alexander as Mary had far better chemistry.

Peter Love turned into more of a menace with the return of his father, Reginald, and became abusive toward Brittany. I thought Marcus did the role well even with the not-so-great writing for him.

The writing didn't help Sally Spencer as the new MJ McKinnon either. Making her a former prostitute, but didn't she and Adam become quite popular?

Re: Jensen Buchanan. She was hard to watch at first after the fire that was Anne Heche. However, Jensen's chemistry with Paul Michael Valley and Tom Eplin helped her overcome that. Both Vicky/Ryan and Vicky/Jake became hugely popular for the show with her in the part.

1 hour ago, Matt Powers said:

@AmandainNC28655 -Totally agree with you on Cady as Jennifer. I liked her version much better than the brittle Jen we have now

Yes I agree and I do think that Cady would have been willing to stay on full time, had Days offered her a contract.

Cady was a pretty big hit with viewers as Rosanna.

I think the only time Cady McClain has struggled as an actor on soaps was when she had to "play crazy" on Y&R. Psycho hose beast is just not her strong suit, lol.

On 12/2/2025 at 8:09 PM, kalbir said:

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?

Not at all. The entire storyline with Victor & Nikki wouldn't have happened with Erica Hope, lol.

There was an undeniable chemistry in Braeden's "Dracula" character playing opposite Melody's "I-just-need-to-be loved" dingbat stripper/cultist/lingerie model. It wouldn't have flown with Erica Hope's more conniving, manipulative version of Nikki. The Nikki character's motivations softened, and she became someone we were (usually) rooting for when Miss Thomas took over in 1979.

On 12/2/2025 at 10:56 PM, Paul Raven said:

How about Keith D Robinson on BTG? I guess we have accepted him as Ted, but I think a lot of us would have been interested to see how Maurice Johnson would have handled the role had he stayed.

I had nothing against Maurice Johnson, but I'm crazy about Keith D. Robinson. I believe he came along at a difficult time -- "after the damage to Ted had already been done", so to speak --- but I can't imagine anyone else in the role now.