I still think Kim Lankford was unique enough and had a compelling enough presence to where Ginger could have worked on her own in some capacity, but the marriage with Kenny never worked and Kenny just wasn't a likeable or interesting character.

2 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Kenny just wasn't a likeable or interesting character.

I agree. I've watched the entire series I don't know how many times, and I still don't feel like I know anything vital about Kenny, other than he was once a surfer (who lived out of his van?) before he decided to give marriage and a career (as a record producer) a try. To me, guys like Kenny Ward end up leaving their families behind because adulting is too hard for them, and they end up living out of a van with some chick half their age in a vain attempt to recapture their youth.

We should also mention all the characters who were dumped from Sunset Beach early on.

I question the reasons why Rae was written out, but I wasn't that surprised about Leigh Taylor Young and Laura Harring - neither was very interesting to watch. Leigh probably should have ended up on a Bell soap as that suited her style more than what she had at SuBe and Passions.

Tiffany was more of a surprise for me because I remember her being heavy in the show's promotion, but Adrienne Frantz was quickly fired, and the recast didn't stay very long.

And Mark (Nick Stabile). I liked him. I guess they didn't think he was hunky enough.

7 hours ago, te. said:

I'm not sure what I would've put in the Wards' slot instead (my first thought is a retired couple, but they would've similarly not fit in eventually).

I would have written a newlywed Black couple so you immediately have a timely angle to explore in the neighborhood, Black folks making real middle class money moving to the suburbs that were created for white flight. Same careers, same house, etc. I think it would have been interesting to see someone like Sid having to overcome unconscious bias thinking he and Karen were such accepting liberals, while neighborhood scumbag Richard was welcoming right from the start.

2 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I still think Kim Lankford was unique enough and had a compelling enough presence to where Ginger could have worked on her own in some capacity, but the marriage with Kenny never worked and Kenny just wasn't a likeable or interesting character.

I think timing and Gary/Val got the best of her there too. Val became the tortured divorcee moving on with her life and starting a new one right when the same thing would have been the path for Ginger. Then Ciji gets there and is a more compelling character and singer in the same age range, showing how replaceable she was for better results.

Just now, titan1978 said:

I think timing and Gary/Val got the best of her there too. Val became the tortured divorcee moving on with her life and starting a new one right when the same thing would have been the path for Ginger. Then Ciji gets there and is a more compelling character and singer in the same age range, showing how replaceable she was for better results.

That's a good point, although I think Lisa Hartman really didn't contribute much without Ciji. (I suppose she did help spare us Kim trying to sing)

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by DRW50

1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

And Mark (Nick Stabile). I liked him. I guess they didn't think he was hunky enough.

Teenage me did enjoy that serial killer storyline though. He had perfect best friend energy, but was never going to be the leading man.

5 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

Teenage me did enjoy that serial killer storyline though. He had perfect best friend energy, but was never going to be the leading man.

I agree. I wonder what the original plans were for him. He did have the nice guy best friend energy (what Xander on Buffy should have been)

2 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

That's a good point, although I think Lisa Hartman really didn't contribute much without Ciji. (I suppose she did help spare us Kim trying to sing)

Thinking about her being doomed to exit anyway, maybe a daring and interesting way to go out would have been to send newly separated Ginger down the Looking for Mr. Goodbar route for her final season. Exploring her sexuality and then she ends up in a murder mystery. Let true Knots Landing slut Greg Sumner be one of her lovers and suspect when she was becoming a liability for his campaign and is killed. Let the characters argue, especially Laura and Abby that exploring your sexuality is not immoral and Ginger’s death was not her fault.

8 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

That's a good point, although I think Lisa Hartman really didn't contribute much without Ciji. (I suppose she did help spare us Kim trying to sing)

Ciji was infinitely better than Kathy, who is only held together around several complete character revisions by Hartman’s charisma onscreen.

5 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

Thinking about her being doomed to exit anyway, maybe a daring and interesting way to go out would have been to send newly separated Ginger down the Looking for Mr. Goodbar route for her final season. Exploring her sexuality and then she ends up in a murder mystery. Let true Knots Landing slut Greg Sumner be one of her lovers and suspect when she was becoming a liability for his campaign and is killed. Let the characters argue, especially Laura and Abby that exploring your sexuality is not immoral and Ginger’s death was not her fault.

That would have been a great idea.

2 hours ago, Khan said:

I agree. I've watched the entire series I don't know how many times, and I still don't feel like I know anything vital about Kenny, other than he was once a surfer (who lived out of his van?) before he decided to give marriage and a career (as a record producer) a try. To me, guys like Kenny Ward end up leaving their families behind because adulting is too hard for them, and they end up living out of a van with some chick half their age in a vain attempt to recapture their youth.

The show has three different cheating husbands at the same time and Kenny was by far the least interesting. Now if only Eric Fairgate was a few years older in circa season 2 or 3 than maybe he and Ginger should of had an affair.

28 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I agree. I wonder what the original plans were for him. He did have the nice guy best friend energy (what Xander on Buffy should have been)

I think the plan was to put Mark in a triangle with Tiffany and Sean after Tiffany's part is pretending to be Meg was over... but with Tiffany being recast and de-emphasized... he was paired with Gabi (who I thought he had good chemistry with).

His death was the final event that turned Gabi from a bitter schemer into a heroine type.

6 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

I think the plan was to put Mark in a triangle with Tiffany and Sean after Tiffany's part is pretending to be Meg was over... but with Tiffany being recast and de-emphasized... he was paired with Gabi (who I thought he had good chemistry with).

His death was the final event that turned Gabi from a bitter schemer into a heroine type.

Thanks. That makes sense.