SB

John Novak was brought in as Keith a couple of years after Justin Deas departed. Deas played Keith for more than 2 years Novak was gone in 6 months.

Lesli Kay did a fine job as NuLois IMO and had chemistry with Wally Kurth, etc. As someone who had very minimal tolerance for Molly on ATWT she really surprised me. But GH at that time had no interest in that side of the canvas whatsoever and it was all C-stories, right down to her inexplicable backburner pairing with Alcazar. To me it always screamed someone at the show or Brian Frons just wanting to grab LK because of her name value from other soaps.

Edited 11 hours ago11 hr by Vee

17 hours ago, 1974mdp said:

Another for me is Eileen Davidson as Kelly on SB. Great actress but didn't work in the part. The whole switch-a-roo was even more glaring as Carrington Garland had already been the perfect recast.

This, this, this. One of the worst mistakes the Dobsons made was firing Carrington Garland.

33 minutes ago, Vee said:

Lesli Kay did a fine job as NuLois IMO and had chemistry with Wally Kurth, etc. As someone who had very minimal tolerance for Molly on ATWT she really surprised me. But GH at that time had no interest in that side of the canvas whatsoever and it was all C-stories, right down to her inexplicable backburner pairing with Alcazar. To me it always screamed someone at the show or Brian Frons just wanting to grab LK because of her name value from other soaps.

This happened repeatedly with Lesli in the '00s - I thought she did a decent job replacing Colleen Dion on B&B, and Colleen was one of my favorites when I watched B&B. She never really found a foothold on any soap after her ATWT exit.

6 hours ago, Chris B said:

I can't recall if this was the time they fired Ilene Kristen for gaining weight but whatever the reason, Mattson was a total disaster in the role. I always assumed she would've been decent just based on her soap pedigree and was shocked when I saw episodes with her. You'd never believe she had a succesful role on a soap. She completely didn't understand the character and couldn't give her any warmth. They had endless recasts on Ryan's Hope and I'd argue this might be the absolute worst.

I don't know that anything could ever top Kathleen Tolan as Mary #3 in that department. OOF.

Another Ryan's Hope recast that I think would fit here would be Nancy Barrett as Faith Coleridge #2. Faith was suddenly noticeably older and vaguely Southern(!). She only lasted a little over a month and then Catherine Hicks took over a couple of weeks later.

Another one: Marguerite Hickey as Flame Beaufort #2 on Santa Barbara. The recast that comes to my mind most to try to describe how jarring it was was actually on primetime...when Dynasty replaced glamorous Brit Catherine Oxenberg with dowdy American Karen Cellini as Amanda. I thought Roberta Bizeau was one of the definite bright spots of the last couple years of Santa Barbara and to me just seemed to radiate off the screen...and they replaced her with someone who didn't have the acting chops or charisma to be a convincing under-five "May I take your order?" waitress. She was mercifully gone in a couple of weeks.

Edited 9 hours ago9 hr by Ryan Mason
Forgot this.

16 minutes ago, Ryan Mason said:

I don't know that anything could ever top Kathleen Tolan as Mary #3 in that department. OOF.

Another Ryan's Hope recast that I think would fit here would be Nancy Barrett as Faith Coleridge #2. Faith was suddenly noticeably older and vaguely Southern(!). She only lasted a little over a month and then Catherine Hicks took over a couple of weeks later.

I'd add the third Pat Ryan, Robert Finnocolli. He always seemed like he wanted to rip somebody's head off.

In primetime

Donna Reed replacing Barbara Bel Geddes on Dallas

Karen Cellini replacing Catherine Oxenburg on Dynasty

Emma Samms replacing Pamela Sue Martin on Dynasty. They stuck with Emma but she didn't hold a candle to PSM.

9 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Heather Rattray for life!

Hensley's comments are interesting as to me he had little chemistry with Martha Byrne when she returned in 1993. Some would return when he did in late 1996 but I don't really think they ever clicked onscreen the same way they did in her first run.

See, in clips I've seen, I didn't hate Rattray. I liked her more cold, adult-like take on Lily. And I feel like it's what the character needed.

As for Hensley and Byrne, I think the writers did their best, truly. Had Marland been there, I do think it would have been more... effective. At the same time, I do think Byrne was not equipped for the Damian storyline.

Ryan's Hope was the recast soap to end all recast soaps.

Siobhan Ryan had some hit or misses with the recasts:

Ann Gillespie lasted 11 months and she wasn't a bad actress... but replacing a distinct and memorable actress like Sarah Felder was going to be an uphill battle.

Carrell Myers listed a year or so, but I never hear people talk about her and her take on Siobhan.. but after replacing Marg H.. she would pale in comparison.

Barbara Blackburn - on the fence about her because she only played Siobhan for the last two to three months of the show, but she seemed to possess all the traits of the previous Siobhan's. She also had good chemistry with Roscoe Born and had good friendship chemistry with Illene Kristen as Delia so I think she would have been a good recast (but I'm sure viewers weren't sure how to react to her).

Port Charles:

Ellen Burgess - You went from a distinct and talented actress like Debbi Morgan and replace her with a competent, but unmemorable, actress Marie-Alise Recasner... people weren't going to warm to the new actress.

15 hours ago, Chris B said:

I've been watching the reruns on YouTube and I managed to get through Marla Adams stint as Beth. It was very odd and brief. It felt more like a temp recast than anything. With that said, she was miscast. I don't think they ever got the casting right for this role, especially the long awaited return with that dud Robin Riker.

Considering Susan Seaforth Hayes and Jane Elliot (who was actually cast) were in the mix for Stephanie, I don't understand why they didn't just make one of them Beth. Especially Elliot who was under contract and thought she had a job. That character was always doomed.

Jane Elliot as Beth is a fascinating What IF. Even if she didn't stick around beyond her initial contract (wasn't she over LA in the 90s if I remember correctly?) it would have changed the trajectory of the show in a major way. I can't imagine that Beth vs Stephanie wouldn't have been a more prominent rivalry with Elliot in the role. Sally replaced Beth as Stephanie's over 40 foil in '89, would there be a Sally Spectra in this universe?

On 11/29/2025 at 9:49 PM, Franko said:

The patron saint of bad recasts.

Still amazing after all these years. This clip has it all: the worst actress in Days history (Rahmer), DAYS' best recast of the 2000s (Lindell) & the guy from Good Morning Football.