ATWT: SOD "Who wants out"?

[Chris B]

The reason Margo can't be replaced isn't because Dolan is too talented (we've already had two great Margos), but the way it would be done. In order for it to happen, she'd have to get fed up or be fired. Then to bring in a new actress and actually give her something to do would be a MAJOR slap in the face.

Kinda like when GH fired Kristina Wagner, a 20+ year vet and didn't even give her an exit. When she returned shortly, the gave her a story, but since she had went back to school she simply asked them to give her a barebones contract so she'd have a firm reason for leaving school again. They didn't do it and recasted with a very popular AW actress....fans hated the idea and nuFelicia was quickly dismissed. BTW, the reason for the contract was bc she left school for GH before and they didn't give the story they promised.

[R!ck]

With the beefing up of the Brady's (Max, Frankie, Kayla) DAYS should snatch her up as a recast Kim Brady. Or even Melissa Horton

With Patsy Pease's health troubles she will probably never return and I think Dolan would be great as a Kim or Melissa.

[SteveFrame]

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The reason Margo can't be replaced isn't because Dolan is too talented (we've already had two great Margos), but the way it would be done. In order for it to happen, she'd have to get fed up or be fired. Then to bring in a new actress and actually give her something to do would be a MAJOR slap in the face.

Kinda like when GH fired Kristina Wagner, a 20+ year vet and didn't even give her an exit. When she returned shortly, the gave her a story, but since she had went back to school she simply asked them to give her a barebones contract so she'd have a firm reason for leaving school again. They didn't do it and recasted with a very popular AW actress....fans hated the idea and nuFelicia was quickly dismissed. BTW, the reason for the contract was bc she left school for GH before and they didn't give the story they promised.

That is one of the reasons that I chose Marcia McCabe as the front runner of the ones I chose. Marcia McCabe is evidently not that interested in acting anymore as she has just not done much since the cancellation of Search For Tomorrow. She had the limited run on Another World and was great. But you hardly ever hear of her doing auditions or anything. I think if Goutman could convince his wife to play the role in the limited capacity that Margo appears it would probably work. He is not going to get too many actresses to do that, but his wife might.

Look at what AMC did with Lee Meriwhether. They brought her in as Ruth Martin when Mary Fickett left but hardly ever used her. They gave her a contract the first time and used her about as much as they did when they brought her back as recurring.

I could very definitely see them pulling something like this with the Margo character.

And Rick Ellen would be perfect as Kimberly but way too old for Melissa. Melissa is a year younger than Hope, and Ellen could not pull that off - even as good of an actress as she is. LOL

[SpiritualJunkie]

Am I the only one who doesn't give a crap about Margo and doesn't think Ellen Dolan is that great? If I missed some phenomenal story in the past, then I'm sorry...but I blame it on TPTB: why the heck haven't they made this character any more likeable even in the few scenes she has? She always comes off as a snobby know-it-all. Didn't Ellen also say that one of her favourite storylines was the Doc storyline. Like WTF? I'm pretty sure a lot of fans thought the same thing. She seems to be another one of those actresses who'll take any crap story they can get just as long as they are frontburner.

This is also my problem with Eileen Fulton. I do like Lisa and I think Eileen is a pretty good actress but she seems to have that same snobby attitude. I heard in a recent soap mag that she said the current teen cast was the best she's seeen and that this is the first time she doesn't mind younger people being on the show. She continued to gush about Zach Roerig (sure, he's improved...but he's in no way a brilliant actor). Did she forget all the other teen actors who worked their a--es off and did great work even when they were given crap (ie. Martha Byrne, the kid who played Paul, Craig Lawlor, Jessica Dunphy, etc.)? Since she's getting tons more airtime now and interacting with the actors playing those teens...she's obviously biased. But to write off past talented teen actors is insulting.

I wish this show would delve into character a lot more than continue with all this plot-driven garbage. Why did they rewrite Katie's past to make her a popular cheerleader when before she was a quiet misfit? Are we never going to hear what really happened with Meg & Josh? What the heck happened to Dusty in those 15 years that he was gone to make him change so much? Someone mentioned Susan's alcoholism..they talk about it from time to time..they even were leading up to this story with her drinking again but quickly dropped it and she quickly got over those temptations..like WTF? Miss opportunity there. Why does Luke like Kevin? Yeah, he's gay but what is it about this guy that Luke is so crazy about? As far as I can see, Kevin is a total d-ck who never really care about Luke's well-being. Even a simple "I don't know" would suffice actually..I just want this dealt with. Instead of Mike and this stupid ruby past of his that really is a lame excuse to make his character more mildly exciting, why don't they deal with his control and over-the-top moral conscience? I could go on and on but apparently, the writers are too lazy to really delve into what makes each character tick (whether it's their past or present) and deal with it...they do it with a select few..but the majority of the cast is thrown into weak plot-driven stories.

[Ms. Walsh]

Well, I don't know what EF meant from that b/c I definitely don't agree w/ her on that. However, I don't know b/c I wasn't even born then or don't remember, but I don't recall EF working w/ the teen cast until maybe the late 90s, early 2000s. (I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong) Out of the teen casts of the past 10 or so years, I'd definitely say that this one is the best. ZR might be the weak link, but I actually like him.

As for ED, it's hard to judge her b/c she hasn't had anything good to perform w/. However, when Margo was front and center in the late 90s, I thought she did a phenomenal job, despite the horrid writing at the time.

Also, when Margo was raped by that guy during the summer of 1992(???), ED blew me away. I was really young then, so I wasn't allowed to watch the actual rape scene, but the aftermath from it was amazing. Another scene that sticks out is when Margo pulled the plug on Casey (Katie's father). What came out of that was great. Again, I was young at the time, so my perception might change...but I still remember it being something that made me even at that age.

Tom and Margo used to be a vital part of the show, up until 2000 I'd say. The same w/ the entire Hughes family. And I still consider them a vital part of the show even now. But I know that more recent viewers might not think that, and that's really unfortunate.

[SteveFrame]

Ms. Walsh, I think one of the biggest things here is what happens to "actresses" when they speak out about things. And not necessarily here with Spiritual Junkie but he is not the first one that has said things similar.

For some reason men can speak out about the situation of their show or their storyline and it is okay but when an actress does it then she is snobby or is difficult to work with. And many turn on them.

On some message boards they have really given Ellen Dolan down the road because she wrote that letter to her fans. It is sad. Ellen Dolan and Eileen Fulton have given many hours to the show and were front burner at one time. Ellen Dolan wasn't necessarily speaking out about being on the air but from what I got from her letter was how that her character was being pushed aside and the younger men cops were being given cases that a more experienced cop like her should be getting. And that is true. That doesn't necessarily mean that she would be getting more air time, but she would be involved in the stories more - not as the lead but as a supporting part.

As far as Eileen Fulton she never had the chance to work with many of the young actors on the show and now she is. Many daytime performers when they are not on the set don't even get to watch their own shows. I have read that many times, and if they are not involved with a certain performer they have no way of even knowing how they perform - as they may have never seen them. She is working with these young people alot now and can judge them. She and ZR may have developed a strong bond behind the screen too that makes her gush over him.

I also do know that many of these young performers have burned many of the vets in times past. I know that the actress who played Jennifer before Jennifer Ferrin was very disliked by the veterans esp. Eileen Fulton and Kathryn Hays. She was a bitch to them on the set and very unprofessional to them. Many stories were reported about her backstage antics. She constantly made Kathryn Hays wait to do scenes because she was consistently late. There are probably tons of other young performers just like her that the story just never got out. We may never know.

I know that there is a point in every performers life when they need to step aside and become the supporting star and not the lead. But they don't ever need to be completely backburnered though. That is what has happened to Hays, Fulton and Dolan over the years. Many times they have gotten very very little airtime while their younger stars have taken over. It has to be hard. They have given a great deal of their life to the show, and I think all they want is a little respect back. And I personally have no problem with them speaking out.

And yes Ms. Walsh you are right about Ellen Dolan in those scenes you mentioned. She should have won Emmys for both those stories (the rape and pulling the plug on Casey). She was absolutely marvelous but was overlooked. And she was by far the best Maureen Bauer. She was absolutely wonderful in the role on GL.

[SpiritualJunkie]

Like I said..she's biased. She never even bothered to look at what other teen actors have done with the material they've gotten so for her to make overgeneralized statements as she did recently just lost her some respect from me. I also totally disagree that the current teen scene is the best in the last 10 years. Zach Roerig and Alex Chando aren't that great, IMO...they're your typical teen couple. Some may find it cute, I find it a tad boring. Will & Gwen are even more boring and why they are wasting Jesse Soffer and Jen Landon on such a tedious pairing is beyond me. It's really hard for me to root for any of these characters..the writing may have been mediocre last year but now..it's just going down the drain. How many people have been complaining about Will & Gwen? Personally, I think ATWT lost a lot of viewers from a few years ago when Peyton List, Jessica Dunphy, and Agim Kaba left. While I thought the Oakdale Three was badly written, I actually liked them better. They weren't treated like the 3 muskateers for long and were incorporated into their seperate adult stories later on.

[Ms. Walsh]

It is sad b/c if a woman speaks out she's called a Diva, but if a man speaks out he's being brave and honest.

And it does suck b/c daytime has definitely gone to the younger actors...it seems like anyone younger than 40 will get a storyline.

I heard that KO was a major !@#$%^&*] and that the show was glad when they got rid of her (I believe Hogan wrote Jen off).

I actually like Maddie and Casey b/c they're written so realistically. Will and Gwen were good until they got involved romantically, but I've actually enjoyed their scenes in the past month. The past teen crews haven't been that great IMO: Georgia/Eddie/Katie/etc., Jen/Bryant/Abigail/Chris/etc., Aaron/Lucy/Alison.

As for the Oakdale Three, I remember years of agony having to watch them until they weren't considered the "teens" anymore. JD was always the bright spot in that trio, and AK grew on me once Lucy and Aaron split, but PL...well, she just dragged everyone down.

[SteveFrame]

Totally agreed with you there.

Of course ATWT's best teen scene was the years of Martha Byrne, Brian Bloom, Jon Hensley, Jennifer Ashe, Andrew Kakovit, and Scott Defreitas. Those were the best set of teen actors ever in daytime. All of them were Emmy nominated through the years.

I would like to see all of Eileen Fulton's actual quote before I say that she completely ignored them. What was really great about that teen scene too was that they did not take over the show. The adults were still very much the focus but they had their story too and their story intersected with the adult story.

I think that is sort of what I like about the current teen scene is that the adult actors and actresses are more involved in it. That has not been the case esp. for awhile with the Oakdale Three.

I think any show does so much better when they blend the stories and have the vets involved.

[SpiritualJunkie]

I'm a she.

I have no problem with actors b-tching about their storylines and about how they're being treated..there have been many actors I'd like to see some honesty from..but when actors start saying how their crappiest story was their best one or start making overgeneralized statements subtlely dissing other actors for no good reason..then I have a problem. This isn't about me being totally ok with actors complaining and then turning around thinking that actresses who do the same thing are "divas"..I don't know how you guys got that. Ellen Dolan and Eileen Fulton just happened to say things I totally disagree with.

Good for Ellen for writing that letter to her fans! I actually agree with her on that. People have been saying that it's great that she's getting more airtime but she STILL doesn't have a story. She's a mere extra. My problem with her is that she said that her favourite story was the Doc storyline..sure, she got to make out with a hot guy but did she forgot how poor the character development and writing was??? I dunno..I guess, I prefer actors who actually go for really indepth and character-driven stories..and the Doc storyline was definitely not one. Unfortunately, that storyline ganered her tons of airtime and a story she was the center of for the first time in years so she's a tad biased.

I don't have the exact Eileen Fulton quote..I know someone who was read SOD while waiting in line at a grocery store...basically, Eileen said the show was lucky to have such talented young actors and that for the first time, she didn't mind having "kids" on the show. Maybe it's just me...but it sounds like she's writing off every past young actor who's ever been on the show. If she wasn't able to watch those past actors' works or work with them enough..she shouldn't be writing them off like that and claiming that the current set is the best the show's ever had. She's always had a problem with younger people being on the show and I can't fault her for that because she's been backburnered to the extreme over the last few years but it's nonethless stereotypical and when you start making subtle comments about people's acting skills based on how much airtime you're getting...it's just rude, IMO.

Yeah, I've heard bad things about Kim Onasch. Sounds like her acting didn't stretch far away from her personality..she came off as a b-tch onscreen as well.

I heard really good things about Eddie/Georgia but it doesn't seem like the same people who were watching then are watching now.

I hated Bryant/Jen but Bryant's death was soo well done. The acting was great all around and I liked how they showed just how much tension there was between Bryant & Craig. I also never really cared for Adam & Abigail but I remember people used to always gush about Craig Lawlor.

I hated the Oakdale Three as much as the next person but when Jessica Dunphy got pulled away from that mess and got involved in the Dr. Rick story, her popularity soared (and it was already pretty big to begin with compared to Agim Kaba & Peyton List). It's unfortunate they dragged the Chris/Alison pairing instead of giving more Alison/Susan scenes and maybe explaining how her father went from being the loving father viewers remembered to the father who didn't care for her.

[SteveFrame]

SJ, when I don't know what sex someone is I usually just use he. Sorry about that.

If you will notice I did say or was trying to say that I didn't think that was what you were saying, but it has happened so many times esp. to actresses.

As to Eileen Fulton's statements until I know what the exact statement was I am not going to say she was dismissing all the other actors talents. Because I know in the past on talk shows and in interviews I have heard her praise other young performers on the show. So that is why I said I would like to hear the exact quote before I criticize her. I do know that she has also never been one to praise anyone when it wasn't deserved either. I do know that I have never heard her praise a whole set of the younger performers. She may just be more proud of this set as a whole.

And as to Ellen Dolan saying she liked that story I chalk it up to a personal taste. We all have stories that we like and someone else looks and wonders what in the world is wrong with us.

I absolutely detested the Satan possession/selling your soul to the devil story on Loving with John O'Hurley all those years ago. It was sort of entertaining but I thought it was so out of place on Loving esp. after Douglas Marland had set the show up with such strong soap opera staple stories in the beginning. I was so shocked to read later that Agnes Nixon wrote that story herself and was very proud of it. She said it was one of the best stories she ever wrote. She dropped a few pegs with me after that.

So once again I just chalk that up to personal taste again.

as to Eddie and Georgia, they were okay performers - but both Nathaniel Marston and Jamie Dudney were very inconsistent. Marston is still that way on OLTL - he can be so good and then turn around and be just as bad. That was his stint at ATWT. The characters never did catch on and were soon gone.

And Jessica Dunphy was the only good thing that came out of the Oakdale 3 even though Agim Kaba was okay and great to look at.

[Chris B]

Well I agree with Eileen Fulton, this is the best teen scene the show has had in AGES. Sorry, but I thought Agim Kaba and Jessica Dunphy were simply okay and Peyton List was the devil. The current set has great chemistry with each other as well as the adults.

I really think you are being a little harsh for the sake of it. Why are you being so mean about these two? Ellen Dolan has given ATWT years and years of great story, ratings and hard work. What is wrong with her asking for a storyline? The Y&R is the #1 soap among 18-47 viewers and the majority of their frontburner actors are over 40. Sure the Doc story was crap, but the actors involved were AMAZING. She wants what the majority of the fans want, multigenerational stories!

I think you're taking a few simple comments and blowing them way out of context just to make your point.

[Ms. Walsh]

I think it is unfortuante b/c there are people who have been watching for 5 or 6 years (and that's a pretty long time in soap operas) who look at the Hughes family and other vets as not being important to the show. If someone started watching ATWT now, he or she would have no idea that the Hughes' are supposed to be the main family in Oakdale. As long as Y&R continues to use it's 40+ cast, it will always be better than ATWT in terms of consistency...and it sucks to say that b/c I consider Y&R and ATWT to be the top 2 soaps when it comes to quality. ATWT should look at what Y&R does and copy it b/c I guarantee that it would improve the show. But what does ATWT do? Instead of catering to its most loyal and biggest demo (Women 50+), it still tries desperately to get younger viewers...but that will never happen. And I know that it's not the writers' fault b/c I'm sure that TPTB at CBS and especially at P&G are telling them what to write and what not to, but if the show continues the way it is, it's going to be in a lot of trouble by the end of the year (especially w/ a renewal coming up next year).

As for KO, I remember when they get rid of her that Hogan used some excuse that he was tired of writing for a character that had kittens on her sweater...or something like that?? Anyway, it was hilarious b/c I'm sure that the cast (especially those who had to put up w/ her day after day) were thrilled to see her leave.

And I can't believe I'm saying this, but I really do think that Jean does a better job writing for teen characters than Hogan ever did.

Bryant's death was amazing, but it was mostly from actors like Hunt Block and Liz Hubbard and not so much from the teen cast. They bookended that storyline between Jen sleeping w/ Billy and then that dreadful storyline at Scotland where Bonnie became a dutchess. And as for Adam and Abigail, I thought that CL and KS were decent actors, but I'll never forgive the writing team for killing off Jake during that storyline involving Abigail and that guy Nick Schudder (??). It was one of the worst storylines ever, and it resulted in one of my favourite characters (and one of my favourite couples, Molly and Jake) getting killed off.

Jessica Dunphy became very good when they stopped writing her along w/ Aaron and Lucy. But Peyton List...talk about a dreadful actress! Even w/ scenes involving Hunt Block, Mary Beth Evans, Martha Byrne, and Liz Hubbard, the girl dragged everything down.

[RogerNewcomb]

Of the three main Margos, Ellen is actually my least favorite by far. Margaret Colin ruled as Margo the nurse turned cop. She was smart, sexy, funny, adventurous, sly all rolled into one. Tom and Margo were actually FUN back in those days and so witty and clever. Sure, they're older now, but I don't think Ellen brings the same sexiness to the role that was originally intended. Margo is too stoic and too much of a cop sometimes.

I would take Margaret Colin back in a heartbeat.

I saw Ellen in a play last year and she was fantastic, and this isn't a knock against her acting ability, but I never completely enjoyed her as Margo.

[Alan]

I totally agree. Besides, I'm anti-recasts in general. I'd rather see Margo killed off than played by yet another actress.

Re: teens:

I didn't like Zach Roerig, Alexandra Chando, or Jennifer Landon at first but they have all improved drastically in the last few months. I wouldn't be surprised if ATWT hired a new acting coach because all of the younger cast has improved. Other than the current Gwen/Will/Casey/Maddie/Luke set, the only teenage characters I've liked in the past ten years were Adam and Abigail. Bryant as well but Todd Rotondi was a bit older. Agim Kaba and Peyton List were two of ATWT's blandest actors ever. Jessica Dunphy wasn't a strong actress and got on my nerves constantly with her inappropriate accent.

I haven't read her comments, but if Eileen Fulton said she didn't like having "kids" on ATWT before its hardly surprising. Up until the 80s, ATWT focused almost exclusively on adult characters. Other than the Marland teens (Lily et al), I can't think of any other WT teen groups as talented and well integrated as the current crop.