12 hours ago, SoapDope78 said:

B&B........Jessica Forrester. I don't think she went over all that well.

B&B had a lot of characters that only lasted a few weeks or months, but Jessica wasn't one of them. She was on contract for 2 1/2 years, was then bumped to recurring and last appeared as a guest for James and Maggie's wedding in December 1996.

As we all know, one recurring pattern on B&B has been the introduction of characters who received a lot of screen time at first, but quickly lost relevance once the show underwent rewrites. More than once, it felt like the writers simply had no long-term plan for them. Of course, a few may have been designed as short-term characters from the outset. But who knows. Many of them were added to the opening credits, and I doubt they would have done that if they’d known that those actors wouldn't last long.

Hardly any character that was introduced in the 1990s lasted more than one or two years. Sheila, James and Amber are really the only exceptions. I'd even call Lauren a failure because she hardly had a storyline on B&B. She was tested with a few men (James and Ridge for example), until she was paired with Eric, but their relationship was hardly shown on screen, and sometimes it wasn't clear if they were still together or not. In May 1999, Lauren was quietly bumped to recurring and then appeared months later for a final appearance (before returning as a guest in later years).

In the 2000s, only the SORASed Forrester children; Massimo, Nick and Jackie; and some of the Logan recasts (Katie and Donna) made an impact.

Here are some contract roles from the 1990s and 2000s that had no impact and were quickly forgotten:

• Brian Patrick Clarke as a failed Storm Logan recast (on contract from April 1990 to March 1991)

• John Brandon as Ben Maclaine, Jake’s father (on contract from September 1990 to March 1991; written out once the abuse storyline ended)

• Michelle Davison as Ruthanne Owens, Stephanie’s homeless friend (on contract from January 1991 to June 1991, until Ruthanne was reunited with her husband; made a couple of guest appearances until 1997)

• Dorothy Lyman as Bonnie Roberts, Karen’s “adoptive” mother (on contract from December 1991 to February 1992; returned for one episode in 1994 when Karen called her)

• Michael Watson as Zach Hamilton, Taylor’s brother (was on contract from May 1992 to December 1992)

• Ken LaRon as Keith Anderson, a waiter at the Bikini Bar who later worked at Spectra (was on contract from March 1993 to September 1994; never had much of a story beyond secretly pining for Macy; later bumped to recurring and last seen at Thorne and Macy’s wedding in June 1995, then vanished)

• Keith Jones as Kevin Anderson, Keith’s mentally ill brother (was on contract from June 1993 to June 1994; mainly known for almost dying in a car accident caused by a drunk Macy; later bumped to recurring and last seen at Thorne and Macy’s wedding in June 1995, then disappeared like his brother)

• Monika Schnarre as Ivana Richards Vanderveld (was on contract from June 1994 to April 1995; killed off)

• Kabir Bedi as Prince Omar Rashid (was on contract from August 1994 to June 1995; bumped to recurring once Taylor had returned to L.A. and quickly written out afterward)

• Kin Shriner as Dr. Brian Carey, Sheila's psychiatrist at the mental institution (was on contract from October 1995 to December 1995; bumped to recurring for two more appearances, then gone)

• Ellen Wheeler as Sarah, Sheila's fellow inmate at the mental institution (was on contract from October 1995 to December 1995; written out once Sheila was released)

• Lily Melgar as Claudia Cortez (was on contract from November 1996 to May 1997; bumped to recurring for two more appearances, then disappeared)

• George Alvarez as Enrique Alvarez (was on contract from December 1996 to June 1997; disappeared)

• Tristan Rogers as Hunter Jones, private detective (was on contract from April 1997 to June 1997)

• Anthony Addabbo as both Tony "Rush" Carrera and his twin brother Jonny Carrera (was on contract from November 1997 to April 1998; Tony died, Jonny vanished without a trace in the same episode)

• Paul Satterfield as Dr. Pierce Peterson (was on contract from July 1998 to April 1999; had a frontburner storyline with Taylor; once that ended, he was briefly tested with Brooke, then vanished; Satterfield remained on contract for a few months after his last appearance)

• Paul Williams as Bailey Masterson, Pierce's assistant (was on contract from July 1998 to October 1998)

• Karim Prince as Raymond, Amber's one-night-stand (was on contract from February 1999 to May 1999; had a couple of recurring appearances months later)

• Victor Alfieri as Giovanni Lorenzano, photographer at Forrester Creations (was on contract from September 1999 to April 2000; little story beyond flirting with Kimberly and later Morgan; then bumped to recurring)

• Tasia Valenza as Susanne, Becky's co-worker at Forrester International (on contract for just three (1) weeks from December 1999 to January 2000)

• Gladys Jimenez as Carmen Arena, Deacon's girlfriend (was on contract from November 2000 to January 2001; killed off)

• Aaron Lustig as Dr. Tim Reid (was on contract from February 2001 to May 2001; exited when Morgan, his partner in crime, was arrested)

• Sandra Vidal as Sofia Alonso, Antonio's former lover and model at Spectra (was on contract from May 2001 to December 2001; had very little story, was bumped to recurring, and last appeared in 2004)

• Daniel E. Smith as the first incarnation of Zende Forrester Dominguez (was on contract from December 2001 to May 2002; then simply vanished)

• Rick Hearst during his first run as Whip Jones (on contract from February 2002 to August 2002; returned seven years later, but didn’t last long then either)

• Courtnee Draper as Erica Lovejoy, Sheila's daughter (was on contract from April 2002 to October 2002; simply vanished)

• Matt Borlenghi as Ziggy Deadmarsh, Sheila's henchman (was on contract from April 2002 to September 2002; simply vanished)

• Michael Dietz as Dr. Mark Maclaine (was on contract from October 2002 to February 2003; bumped to recurring and last aired in 2005)

• Tamara Davies as Dr. Tricia Quick, the Taylor replacement (was on contract from October 2002 to March 2003)

• Luigi Amodeo as Lorenzo Barelli, Macy's lover in Italy (was on contract from December 2002 to March 2003; bumped to recurring once Macy was back in L.A. and then written out)

• Joseph Marcell as Hudson, Massimo's butler (was on contract from January 2004 to June 2004; disappeared)

• Shanelle Workman as Gabriela Moreno Forrester (was on contract from March 2005 to October 2005)

• Mario Lopez as Dr. Christian Ramirez (was on contract from March 2006 to July 2006)

• The aforementioned Dax Griffin as Shane McGrath (was on contract from September 2006 to February 2007; bumped to recurring and killed off)

• Ben Hogestyn as Harry Jackson (was on contract from August 2006 to November 2006)

• William deVry as the final Storm Logan recast (was on contract from October 2006 to February 2007; bumped to recurring and killed off a year later)

• Constantine Maroulis as Constantine Parros, singer (was on contract from May 2007 to August 2007)

• Mykel Shannon Jenkins as Charlie Baker, police officer (was on contract from November 2007 to January 2008)

… and several more followed in the 2010s.

Edited 9 hours ago9 hr by Huntress

13 hours ago, SoapDope78 said:

KL...Kenny & Ginger Ward. The writers had 4 seasons to come up with something, but couldn't figure out what to do with them.

I think that's because Gary and Val's presence made the Wards redundant. Both couples were about the same age, and both were newlyweds, too (even though Gary and Val had been married before). Gary and Val received more attention, however, due to their connections to DALLAS.

Y&R.....In the 90's Woody Brown was cast as an abusive husband named Jake (I think it was) and the Bug was going to help the wife. I remember SOD did an interview with Brown and he said he was happy to be joining the show and how his character was bad news. I got the feeling it was supposed to be long term and play out like a redemption story ala Ron Becker from the 70's. I don't think Jake and his wife appeared maybe like 3 times before they disappeared.

On 1/30/2026 at 4:51 AM, DRW50 said:

Kit. I can't remember if she lasted a year or not. Maybe?

Don't forget the other two members of the trio that was going to shake things up at AMC: Braden and Raquel. All three crashed and burned, but 30-some years later I can still remember that promo.

Raquel on AMC had potential once she was recast, and she got tested with Jake & Ryan before she finally was written off the show. I think the audience was sick of the character due to the bad first actress to play her and how one note the character was at the start.

Kit being revealed to be Jack and Travis' long believed dead sister was an interesting twist even though the actress was way too young to have played their sister. I think that the concept of the character would have worked had she been introduced in the late 80s when both Jack/Travis were on the show and their feud was still intense.. not the late 90s/early 00s.

Edited 6 hours ago6 hr by Soaplovers

GH:

Victoria Parker (1993) - Played by Terri Garber.. she was an ex flame of Bill Eckerts and part of the whole weird caper that Bill/Holly were involved in. Once it became apparent that Emma Samms was quitting and that Bill Eckert was going to be replaced by Luke... her character quickly was written out of the show.

Nikki Langton (1992-1993) - Her character lasted a little over the year, but she had come on and was revealed as Dawn's half-sister through the two sharing the same dad. She sued the hospital for malpractice after Monica took her into her home (in an odd attempt at replacing her late daughter Dawn)... and after that was dismissed.. dated AJ before she was paid off to leave him at the altar.

Sheila Cantillion (1991-1992) - In the brief Monty era, the show had tried to get back to the hospital as a setting and she was introduced as a nurse that was friends with Amy Vining and later became her roommate. She briefly dated AJ Quartermaine and another doctor named Eric before she and Nikki Langton are set up as rivals in 1992 before she is dropped around the time Nikki leaves town (in the fall of 1992).

Nadine from GH in 2008-09

@Huntress Thanks for that B&B list. That show sets the standard for the fizzle.

However, some of those charcters eg Tristan's Hunter, were only ever intended as short term and put on contract to ensure they would be available for the duration.

Days- Sandy Horton .

Twice in the 80's Sandy was cast and this was a big thing as she had been off for at least a decade and it seemed the Horton family would be replenished. But the actresses were bland and she only ever got B stories. Sandy disappeared again and hasn't been spotted in 40 years.

Y&R.....Jack's Insta Family in the 90's. Vietnam war love Luan. Keemo (Jack's son), and Mai (Luan's daughter). Reportedly Peter Bergman detested the entire storyline and Luan was killed off and Keemo and Mai written out.

B&B Ricky Paul Goldin(sp) character. The soap mags made a big deal about him joining. Also, wasn't there a blonde receptionist at Forrester for awhile that flirted with Ridge and was a friend of Brooke? Sally 2's sister Coco and the Spectra 2.0 crew. Lorenzo Lamas's family. Chris Robinson as Taylor's dad.

ATWT. Kin Shriner's character on ATWT. There was one ABC actor (GH?) who on ATWT was a cowboy and played the guitar?

Edited 3 hours ago3 hr by Spoon

Speaking of Sebastian on GL, didn't he give Michelle a mysterious coin-- a plot thread that went absolutely nowhere. Also, Zachary the Angel seemed to have his storyline wrapped up rather quickly. It seemed like they were going to delve deeper into a connection with Meta.

3 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

GH:

Victoria Parker (1993) - Played by Terri Garber.. she was an ex flame of Bill Eckerts and part of the whole weird caper that Bill/Holly were involved in. Once it became apparent that Emma Samms was quitting and that Bill Eckert was going to be replaced by Luke... her character quickly was written out of the show.

Nikki Langton (1992-1993) - Her character lasted a little over the year, but she had come on and was revealed as Dawn's half-sister through the two sharing the same dad. She sued the hospital for malpractice after Monica took her into her home (in an odd attempt at replacing her late daughter Dawn)... and after that was dismissed.. dated AJ before she was paid off to leave him at the altar.

Sheila Cantillion (1991-1992) - In the brief Monty era, the show had tried to get back to the hospital as a setting and she was introduced as a nurse that was friends with Amy Vining and later became her roommate. She briefly dated AJ Quartermaine and another doctor named Eric before she and Nikki Langton are set up as rivals in 1992 before she is dropped around the time Nikki leaves town (in the fall of 1992).

There was a lot of story built around Victoria coming back from the dead. Her return in May, 1993, is well staged as it's set in a gothic monastery with incredibly moody lightning. I don't think Victoria really fit into Port Charles and I don't know how they could have kept the Victoria / Bill / Holly stuff going long without being too long. Victoria was definitely treated like a big deal, but I guess that is because she was being paired with Tony Geary. Randolph Mantooth's Richard Halifax and Frank Runyeon's Simon Romero also fall into this category of being tied up in the Holly / Bill romance that sort of quickly faded from into the background.

Nikki's initial run is under a year (late January 1992 - late October/early November 1992) before she returns for a week in May 1993. I thought Monica's decision to take in Nikki was driven by Monica's guilt over not telling David about Dawn before David died and the fact that little orphan Nikki had lost her mother and her father several years apart. Nikki felt like an important character under the Riche led headwriterless period, but was quickly dumped by a solo Bill Levinson.

The Monty 2.0 era is full of characters that fizzled including Sheila's original love interest Joey Moscini, who was ditched with his uncle and aunt Fred and Angela Eckert. There was also some hype in the press about Brandon Hooper's Dr. Eric Simpson, Sheila's boyfriend, who was A.J.'s rival. He lasted a little more than a year as well.

1 hour ago, Spoon said:

B&B Ricky Paul Goldin(sp) character. The soap mags made a big deal about him joining. Also, wasn't there a blonde receptionist at Forrester for awhile that flirted with Ridge and was a friend of Brooke? Sally 2's sister Coco and the Spectra 2.0 crew. Lorenzo Lamas's family. Chris Robinson as Taylor's dad.

ATWT. Kin Shriner's character on ATWT. There was one ABC actor (GH?) who on ATWT was a cowboy and played the guitar?

That was Wally Kurth. He wasn't a cowboy, per se, but he played the guitar and was an (amateur) ventriloquist. The dummy's name was Cowboy Jack. His character's name was Sam. He ended up nearly raping Carly, and Parker shot him. Parker was accused of murder, but they found out Sam's girlfriend fired the kill shot.

Two the of bigger names I haven't seen mentioned in the B&B talk are Sydney Penny and Linda Gray's characters.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by P.J.

Sydney Penny, wasnt she connected to Lorenzo Lamas's character? I want to say he was a fireman.

How about that one actress from Saved by the Bell who briefly had a role on the show.

Speaking of Cowboys, the actor who played Kirk on ATWT played a character who was a cowboy and was briefly involved with Holly (GL). Also, J Chamberlain was a big dud, like many of the Chris Hughes on ATWT. Also on GL-- the last Dylan and Alan-Michael, espescially AM who was de-aged and paired with Marina, the woman he thought might've been his child back in the day.

14 minutes ago, Spoon said:

How about that one actress from Saved by the Bell who briefly had a role on the show.

Lark Voorhies. Wasn't she also on DAYS as Jonah's girlfriend or something? They had some potential story for her on B&B, as a designer for Sally (?), but instead she was just used by Sly and written out not long after getting horrible burns. Such a waste.

3 hours ago, SoapDope78 said:

Y&R.....Jack's Insta Family in the 90's. Vietnam war love Luan. Keemo (Jack's son), and Mai (Luan's daughter). Reportedly Peter Bergman detested the entire storyline and Luan was killed off and Keemo and Mai written out.

I never know who to list as these are also characters who lasted more than a year, but the thought that they were all written out just because Peter Bergman (who had only been on the show half a decade) wasn't happy annoys me. The show was lucky to have an actress as talented as Elizabeth Sung, and that was a more interesting story than anything Jack had for most of the next few years.

Mai was never really a character anyway.

6 hours ago, Kane said:

Don't forget the other two members of the trio that was going to shake things up at AMC: Braden and Raquel. All three crashed and burned, but 30-some years later I can still remember that promo.

I remember it now too. I wonder if those were really the only plans they had for Braden - being a rapist - or if they just realized the actor was a zero.

There were so many on AMC it can become a blur. Some I don't think lasted a year (like Adrian's girlfriend Tina, who vanished) and some probably did but never went anywhere (like that blonde guy who was introduced as a love interest for Fusion ladies but was more believable as their gay best friend - I think he briefly dated Simone).

Edited 58 minutes ago58 min by DRW50