Best soap recast

Difficult. I'm torn between Victoria Wyndham and Anne Heche. They are my favorites from the list. But they are my original recipe Rachel and Vicky, so it's hard to compare. Same with Robin Strasser as Dorian. And Sherry Stringfield as Blake.

I did not like Rick Hearst as much as Carl Tye Evans.

It would be easy to select Trevor St. John, but I would have preferred the crossing guard near the school near my house over Roger Howarth. Or all of my last ten Uber drivers, whom I've mostly seen from the back. Or any member of my AA meeting, male or female. Roger Howarth should have been a lawyer, not an actor.

My actual favorite recast, now that I have pondered it, is Heather Rattray as Lily on ATWT. I liked her SO much better than Martha Byrne.

I'm picking "other."

Gregg Marx replacing Justin Deas as Tom Hughes.

Michael O'Leary replacing Phil MacGregor as Rick Bauer.

And, oddly, Joan Collins replacing Marj Dusay as Alexandra Spaulding.

Melanie Smith as Emily Stewart on ATWT. Let the tramping and vamping begin!

I rather liked the woman who briefly replaced Christina Crawford on The Secret Storm!

Robin Matson as Heather Webber on GH

Nancy Frangione as Cecile on AW.

YESS R6

I actually liked Susan Keith better in the role. Maybe her Cecile was just written better (I think her departure was timed with a change in writers), but she brought a complexity and vulnerability to the role as she transformed from a heroine to a schemer. I know...MARY! She was actually fascinating to watch. I thought Nancy Frangione was good, but the character under her became increasingly cartoony and garden variety villainess.

Robert Kelker-Kelly as Bo on Days.

#1 Anne Heche (AW)

#2 Kimberley Simms (GL)

No way in hell to Tamara Braun.

The one and only Carly IMO was Sarah Brown.

Jennifer Ferrin as Jennifer Munson on ATWT Scott Holmes as Tom Hughes on ATWT.

I greatly preferred Elaine Princi's Dorian Lord to Robin Strasser's. I was pissed when Strasser ousted her replacement because she couldn't make it in prime time.

R13 are you the Elaine Princi Troll?

I second Jennifer Ferrin. She was the perfect Jennifer Munson.

Worst ATWT recast: Hunt Block as Not-Craig Montgomery. Gross!

R13 Agree with you about Elaine Princi. She was much better than that old hag Strasser. Strasser had to come begging to get back on the show after her failed primetime career.

Jennifer Munson was never a distinct enough character for me to care who played her.

I still miss that little stud that played Bryant.

And I didn't mind Hunt Block so much. Actually, I didn't even mind Jon Lindstrom so much at the end of his run. For whatever reason, Scott Bryce was not loved there, and I don't know why - he was perfect, multi-faceted - but that second time around, the Craig they had him playing was unrecognizable.

How could anyone pick Jess Walton?

[quote] How could anyone pick Jess Walton?

How could anyone pick the hideousness that was Brenda Dickson?

I like both Strasser and Princi. I wouldn't called her attempt at primetime a failure because she got dozens of guest spots and some TV movies. That's pretty good for an actress in her 40s who was mostly just a soap actress prior. I bet she missed the attention she got being on OLTL more than anything.

Jess Walton is a far superior actress to that campy, stilted mess that preceded her in the role of Jill.

Sherry Stringfield was always a horrible actor, droning on in that monotone. I never understood how she wound up with such a big career. People think it's mysterious that she abandoned it, but it's just as mysterious that she ever had it.

Scott Holmes was terrible as Tom. I especially hatwd that odd stilted way he delivered his lines.

I don't know whether to blame Hunt Block or Cady McClain for the hideousness of their Craig and Rosanna.

On the other hand, Kayla from Days was a surprisingly good recast Sierra.

"For whatever reason, Scott Bryce was not loved there, and I don't know why - he was perfect, multi-faceted"

He was "not loved" precisely because he WAS perfect and multi-faceted.

"but that second time around, the Craig they had him playing was unrecognizable."

Actually, the problem was that no matter how shallow, one-dimensional, and villainous they were writing Craig, Bryce STILL managed to make him sympathetic to the viewers when that was the last thing TPTB wanted (Paul was their darling). Craig came thisclose to inducing a miscarriage in Meg and fans on the soap boards were still writing things like "Poor Craig!" That kind of vulnerability in an actor is so rare, but rather than highlighting it (which actually takes time, talent, and effort) Goutman and Co. fired Bryce because who can be bothered?

Yep, r23 got it right. Bryce's Craig was a real person and they wanted a cartoon.

Hunt Block was the best Craig. He was sexy and dangerous. Scott Brcye was not good at all.

Hunt Block was a whiny emasculated Craig who constantly chewed his cud.

Strasser was great on Knots Landing as Karen's ruthless television producer.

Anne Heche was AMAZING!!!

Robin Christopher as Skye #2 on AMC. I also liked Carrie Genzel, Skye #3, but Robin was the best.

The first Skye was a brunette Aussie, I think. Or maybe British. She wasn't on long.

I agree Robin was probably the best Skye, but Carrie was not bad. In some ways she might have been a better fit for the time, because Genzel was closer in age Ripa's Hayley and they were going for the sibling rivalry thing.

Oh, Douglas, we hardly knew ye!

Hunt and Cady were great together.

Scott first run & Hunt's run showed Craig at two different points in their lives with different life experiences.

I didn't care for Craig's last return.

[quote]Hunt and Cady sucked together, just like 95% of the rest of post-Marland ATWT.

Robin Christopher and Antoinette Byron, the Aussie Skye, are actually cousins IRL. I didn't care for Carrie Genzel at all.

Judith Light as Karen Wolek (OLTL). She was the 3rd actress cast.

Kristen Storms was not the original Maxie on GH, but she really made the role her own. Ditto for John Ingle as Edward Quartermain and Constance Towers as Helena.

most fave - Robin Mattson as Gina Capwell

least fave - the blond Emily from As the World Turns

Melanie Smith WAS Emily Stewart.

Beverley Pemberthy as Pat Matthews Randolph

Justin Hartley as Adam Newman on Y&R bests Michael Muhney's portrayal.

I liked best the anti-gay actor who played Adam first, R40, but I agree with you that Hartley was better than Muhney, who annoyed the shit out of me on Veronica Mars. I was, like, "THIS GUY???"

The original actors were not there long, so these recasts are a little lower on the significance scale, but the recasts of Will and Dixie Cooney were definitely an improvement.

As annoying as Dixie could be in later years, Cady was a better actress than the Ellie Mae stereotype she replaced. It is hard to imagine the original actress doing the heavy scenes that Cady did with Canary , Barr, and Knight.

Lonnie Quinn filled out a pair of jeans nicely, and I don't remember him being horrible as Will, but Stuart really made the character a stand-out. As fun as the who killed Will story was -- it was probably short sighted to make him irredeemable. He was a character that should have been on the canvas long-term.

A big part of it might have been better writing and character development that actor portrayal (original Will and Dixie were written as if they were long lost Clampetts), but think the replacements were also stronger actors.

I really should get my eyes checked. I thought that read "best soap racist" and I was going to say "Ivory."

Robin Strasser as Dorian on One Life To Live. Hands down.

ATWT had a lot of problems with recasting. Lindsay Frost was a pretty good Meg Ryan replacement as Betsy, and I am another fan in the Heather Rattray camp as Lily...but the blonde who replaced Julianne Moore was not so great as Frannie (although Claire Beckman wasn't bad as Sabrina), and I didn't like that dark haired Meg replacement, and I definitely never liked Ellen Dolan or Scott Holmes as Margo and Tom.

I didn't watch much in the last years but it seemed like they did a lot recasting. Weren't there like 10 Chris Hughes recasts?

Oh, and meant to add--Emily Smith was AWESOME as Emily, and I never liked that blonde Kelly person who replaced her.

Muhney had a coldness to his character that worked. Hartley makes me wish he and Chelsea would ride off into the sunset once and for all. Both good-looking but boring and overrated.

[quote] I am another fan in the Heather Rattray camp as Lily

She would never have let Derek and Niles burn down her cabin. Of course, then there wouldn't have been a recast.

AW had a number of excellent recasts in addition to Vicky Wyndham and Anne Heche, including Susan Sullivan as Lenore Curtin, Douglass Watson as Mac Cory, Irene Daily as Aunt Liz and Kathryn Holbrook as Sharlene Frame.

Anna Holbrook played Sharlene Frame.

Yes, sorry, that was a brain fart -- she went by Anna Kathryn Holbrook for a while.

Melanie Smith certainly looked like Marie Masters, but I loved Kelley Menighan too.

Although I'm jealous that she scored Jon Hensley's big cock.

Slezak was a horrible recast. Gillian Spencer dominated that role.

Ellen Parker for Ellen Dolan...as Maureen suddenly became a heterosexual.

I didn't like new Maureen at first but when Ed and Mo almost broke up, and Maureen was becoming friends with Roger, the character really got interesting.

That was apparently after P&G reached out to Dolan to see if she might come back as Maureen. AND Parker heard about it. Yowch. I remember reading that in Digest.

"Although I'm jealous that she scored Jon Hensley's big cock."

She's not scoring it now. They separated and she took the kids and moved back to Chicago. The last I saw of Jon Hensley, he was doing a 3-4 day role as a doctor on B&B.

R56 Well, tell us, Martha, how big *is* it?

Sucking it put a huge strain on my mouth, especially my gums.

"She's not scoring it now. They separated and she took the kids and moved back to Chicago. The last I saw of Jon Hensley, he was doing a 3-4 day role as a doctor on B&B."

Really? Do you know why they separated? Is a third party involved?

When did THAT happen, R56? I know they BOTH moved to Chicago a while back, and as far as I knew, they were still together.

I think John Hensley is a full time golfer now.

Kelley goes by her maiden name on FB now and there are no recent pictures of Jon on her feed.

R62 I was just about to say the same. I noticed the same.

Their son graduated HS. Looks a bit like dad.

For a man who turns 51 in a month he looks good.

Look for Greg Watkins' FB page...hot abs, Evan Walsh!

Got a link, R65? There are around 100 Greg Watkinses.

There are indeed pictures of Jon in Kelly Menighan's page.

Yes, but they are old, r67.

I linked to Greg from Kelley's page. See if this gets you there.

thanks r68

Is that what she wore to her son's graduation?

The tit toucher Adam from Y&R was a horrible actor! No wonder he can't get a job. Terrible actor, plus he touches young women's tits. A perv.

[quote]The one and only Carly IMO was Sarah Brown.

Would that be Sarah Joy Brown, most famous graduate of the Flaring Nostrils School of Drama, R11?

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Wow, Greg Watkins looks phenomenal. Much hotter than when he was on ATWT.

Link, please, R74.

Uh, look at R68 like I did...?

R74 "Sorry, this content isn't available right now."

SOD reported Kelly/Jon's divorce maybe a year or so after ATWT wrapped up.

One in the pink and Two! in the stink!

My mother used to say the original Rachel on "Another World" (Robin Strasser) was a terrible actress.

Wendy Moniz as Dinah on GL

R53 I loved Gillian Spencer as Viki-Niki. .. Nancy Pinkerton as Dorian too!

Rob Bogue as AC

Lauren Koslow taking over from Elaine Princi as Kate Roberts (Winograd)

On GL, Hillary Edson was much better as Eve than the mousy Janet Grey, who originated the role. The character was off the canvas a good ten years before the writers brought her back.

Guy Wilson!😜

Sharon Gabet as Raven (EDGE OF NIGHT).

The first Ava Rescott on Loving, Patty something, was, well, "rough". Roya Megnot, her replacement, was excellent, much better than her successor, Lisa Peluso.

R85, they were not the same character.

It would have been interesting to see how Charlene Tilton would have done as a Laura Spencer recast, since she came thisclose.

Billy Miller as Jason Morgan on GH. I know it's not especially popular, but to me Steve Burton was so wooden I always fast-forwarded whenever he was on.

I only remember Brooke Bundy as Diana Taylor, and I thought she was very good. I've heard that her predecessor Valerie Starrett was quite good and extremely popular.

Y'all is old.

[quote] Rob Bogue as AC

He was so hot, and I remember one of the dressers at GL talking about how enormous his cock was. They always had to buy him midlength boxers or else the head would come out of the bottom.

He was sexy, in a dumb dad sort of way, whereas Derwin was just sexy, period.

I thought Sherry Stringfield was the original Blake?

No, Elizabeth Dennehy was Blake #1

She's the Glenn Close looking bitch in this clip

I'm surprised no one has said David Birney replacing Sam Wade on LIAMST. Sam was okay, but David brought out the sex appeal and naughtiness of the character. I remember faking sick to watch the conclusion of the drug bust story line.

Strudel as Will Horton. Bring him home.

No Strudel EVER!

[quote] I'm surprised no one has said David Birney replacing Sam Wade on LIAMST. Sam was okay, but David brought out the sex appeal and naughtiness of the character. I remember faking sick to watch the conclusion of the drug bust story line.

LIAMST?

LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE

IS A MAAAAAAAANY

SPLENDORRRRRRRRED THING

On AMC, the AWESOME Olivia Birkelund was a much better Arlene Vaughan than the first, Phyllis Lyon. Lyon wasn't bad at all, but when they decided to make Arlene "sexier" and have an affair with her daughter's husband (Alec, played by Grant Aleksander and his giant cock), they needed a different actress, and man, did Birkelund deliver.

No R99 ever. Seriously, die, bitch.

[quote] He was so hot, and I remember one of the dressers at GL talking about how enormous his cock was. They always had to buy him midlength boxers or else the head would come out of the bottom. He was sexy, in a dumb dad sort of way, whereas Derwin was just sexy, period.

Bogue is a great comedic actor. He's got a really good sense of timing. Kind of surprised he wasn't able to break through and find work on a sitcom. He could easily have the same career as, say, Ted McGinley (and I don't mean that in a disparaging way) but he's 100x more talented.

The sex scene between Alec and Arlene was one of the hottest sex scenes ever in soaps;

Remember when Terrell Anthony subbed for Michael E. Knight as Tad circa 1990? It was a ridiculous recast, but I think he and Cady McClain were an item around that time. AMC had their share of WTF recasts. Jamie Luner as Liza? Don Scardino as tempGreg when Larry Lau took a leave after his father died?

[quote]AMC had their share of WTF recasts.

Probably while Mini-Brain was EP.

Olivia Birkelund was great as Arlene. Definitely one of the best recasts.

Agree that Robin Christopher and Carrie Genzel were both good (great actually with RC) recasts as Skye.

Jamie Luner was about as far away as Marcy Walker and Liza as you could get, but I still liked her on the show even though she clearly "wasn't" Liza. They should've made her another character. But she added some much needed spark during the last few years of the show. Luner was also one of the best things about the last two seasons of Melrose Place.

The most jarring AMC recast to me was Laurel. The first Laurel, Kristen Jensen, a former model, was a tall, stunningly beautiful blonde and her replacement was total plain jane Felicity Lafortune. They wanted to make Laurel more sympathetic apparently, but soon became a hated character by most of the viewers.

Melody Anderson had to have been one of the worst recasts of all time. Compounding the fact is that the recast didn't have to happen. It was only because Kiberd and Collins hated each other that ABC intervened and decided that Kiberd was more important than Collins.

Stay pressed R103!

ATWT was just so awful at recasts in later years.

And the shame of it was, it was mostly because they just completely disregarded any history the character had before. I actually liked Grayson McCouch as an actor, and he's hot as hell. He could have played Dusty and brought him into the 21st century. Instead, they changed Dusty - always a good guy with edges - into Sonny Corinthos Lite.

I hated Marie Wilson, and she was 1000 percent unlike Jennifer Ashe.

Between all the ABC faces, and Katie Peretti's giant gaping snatch being what everyone in town wanted a piece of? No thanks.

AMC attempted a diverse "teen scene" in the early 90's with Hayley, Brian, Terrence and An Li--but only Kelly Ripa survived the initial few months. All the other parts were recast, and Matt Borlenghi, Dondre Whitfield, and Lindsay Price were all so much better than the original actors (I can't even remember their names).

Did NOT care for the Brian something or other who was Brian #3, though.

Wanda De Jesus as the last Santana on Santa Barbara.

"I actually liked Grayson McCouch as an actor, and he's hot as hell. He could have played Dusty and brought him into the 21st century. Instead, they changed Dusty - always a good guy with edges - into Sonny Corinthos Lite."

Yep, McCouch is terrific and could have done so much with good writing. When I think of all the history that could have been mined for him, Bryggman, and DeFreitas... What a shame. But Larry Bryggman and Scott DeFreitas aren't "hot," so who cares, right?

"I hated Marie Wilson, and she was 1000 percent unlike Jennifer Ashe."

Ashe was so fabulous and fiery, and then they recast with this trembling, mumbling train wreck. Why? Why, when you have a great actress who's just a phone call away? Ugh...

Grayson McCouch is hot to death was serious JO material for me, so he can do no wrong in my book. But it was a shame that his history with John was ignored, but by that point the show no longer had any interest in writing for Larry Bryggman. Bryggman and Eileen Fulton were probably the two vets that Goutman gunned for most, since their airtime diminished significantly when he took over as EP.

[quote]ATWT was just so awful in later years.

Fixed.

[quote] ATWT was just so awful at recasts in later years. And the shame of it was, it was mostly because they just completely disregarded any history the character had before.

They didn't *know* any character history. P&G wanted OUT of the soap biz.

Guess I should change my vote.

Anne Heche was a RECAST ? For who ????

Ellen Wheeler, r118. She originated both Marley and Vickey.

Oh yea ............ now I remember ............. funny, I liked Ellen too.

Francies Reid

Grayson McCouch was horrible on GH recently.

Felicity LaFortune

Bovine even when thin

Laurel's brother Michael was the pretty one. Felicity was a decent actress, but the character was not exactly beloved by the fans. She was pretty holier than thou ex-con woman. Plus the show really went out of its way to paint as the greatest woman ever, a woman with a heart of gold forced to do cons for her daughter and by her mean husband - but you can see what a great person she is because she will wear sweats and play catch with Timmy. The show probably did not get the responses they wanted when a number of fans probably wanted to Jack to return to Erica and later were probably cheering crazy Janet on in their battles.

I remember the first Laurel's first appearance almost caused Jack to run off the road when he saw her on the road at night. He was haunted by her beauty. That did not quite mesh with how Laurel 2 looked. For as long as Wiley was on the show, Jack did not really have a lot of love interests. Erica, Brooke (which should have worked but didn't), Laurel, and a couple of flings with Barbara. They did some chemistry testing with Angilque, Natalie, and Ceara, but I don't think he got involved with any of them.

I loved AMC, but they had a habit over the years of bringing on characters before they had found the "right" actor. Sometimes they got lucky right out of the gate with people like Kate Collins, Josh Duhamel, and Sarah Michelle Gellar, but the actors we all associate with many characters were recasts:

Grandma Kate, Trevor, Donna, Brooke, Dixie, Will, Real Silver, Kent Bogard, Benny, Chuck, Linc..plus all the ones already mentioned here.

Patricia Mickey as Peggy Brooks Y&R 1978

AMC, Y&R, and RH had SO many cast changes in their early years. On AMC and Y&R, the changes were either mostly for the better or an even draw. RH suffered so much because its cast changes were almost always inferior, except maybe for the Frank character. The Mary and Patrick recasts were mind-boggingly awful, and although Karen Morris Gowdy was popular as Faith, she was no Catherine Hicks or Faith Catlin.

Why would anyone be voting for that horsefaced Victoria Wyndham.

Robin Strasser was better in that role too. That wasn't a good recast at all.

Are you kidding, r128? Wyndham brought so much depth and complexity to the role, and far exceeded anything Strasser could've possibly done. Don't get me wrong. Strasser is a competent actress, but she has limited range. Showing nuance and shades of gray is just not her thing. And unlike Wyndham, she's really never been able to overcome bad writing. She sinks alongside it.

Meh, whatever R129

R111 I agree with everything you wrote, but you forgot the Brad recast. The character went from being Jack's older brother (and smoking hot) to Jack's younger doofus brother who supposedly had been a high school football star. I cheered when he was killed off, but threw things at my tv when he came back as a ghost. I didn't think he was ever going to leave!

R128, you know nothing. Bitchy, cunty psycho Robin Strasser had the role of a lifetime as bitchy, cunty, psycho Dorian.

Brad Snyder was so insignificant, his age relative to Jack's was of no importance. Jack should have been the next Caleb, in any case. That "cousin" thing was silly.

Watch the "where's the son you've ever given him" clip and then tell me that Wyndham wasn't everything in that role. Robin's Rachel was spoiled and selfish. Wyndham's Rachel was lethal, which made her transformation that more amazing.

It's as though Strasser and Wyndham played two different characters. Could you even imagine Robin's Rachel as a sculptress or anyone that Mac would have fallen in love with? Strasser was perfectly suited to the super deluxe camp era of OLTL. It was a beautiful marriage of actress and writing.

Strasser played herself on OLTL.

[quote] Watch the "where's the son you've ever given him" clip and then tell me that Wyndham wasn't everything in that role. Robin's Rachel was spoiled and selfish. Wyndham's Rachel was lethal, which made her transformation that more amazing.

Yes, this, a thousand times this.

[quote] Don't get me wrong. Strasser is a competent actress, but she has limited range. Showing nuance and shades of gray is just not her thing.

Harding Lemay, is that you?

Strasser was great at camp and being arch, but just competent when it came to subtext.

I just need to comment that I think the name McCouch is funny.

Especially since it's pronounced Mc-Cooch.

As in, coochie!

Micheal T Weiss as Mike Horton on Days was a good recast. His replacement(Roark Critchlow) might have been an even better recast.

I'd like to be double penetrated by Michael T Weiss and Roark Critchlow at the same time.

Funny how Mike Horton hasn't aged at all in 40 years, though. Seriously. He was, like, twentysomething when Wesley Eure played him and he was maybe 35-ish when Mike and Carrie hooked up twenty to thirty years later.

[quote]Funny how Mike Horton hasn't aged at all in 40 years, though.

That's called DeSORASing -- making a soap character younger when recasting the role. And Mike Horton is the most obvious example of that.

Mike was 16 or 17 when Wesley Eure debuted on Days in 1974. By the time Michael T. Weiss began playing him in 1985, Mike was in his late 20s. However, when Roark Critchlow began playing him in 1994, Mike was still in his late 20s and looked to be about the same age as Jennifer.

Other soap characters who have been DeSORASed over the years include:

Laura Horton on Days when Jamie Lynn Bauer assumed the role in 1993.

Bill Horton on Days when Christopher Stone took the part in 1987.

Amanda Spaulding on GL when Toby Poser took over the role in 1995.

Alan-Michael Spaulding on GL when Michael Dempsey took over the part in 2005.

Nicole Travis Drake Cavanaugh on Edge of Night when Jayne Bentzen took the part in 1978.

Tom Hughes is another who de-aged through recast. Peter Galman was born in 1945, David Colson in 1941 (!), Justin Deas in 1948, Gregg Marx in 1955.

R133 I agree that Brad was an insignificant character, but I swear his character (with Katie) ate up at least 2 of the last 3 years of ATWT. They were on at least 3 days a week as he replaced Simon as the "love" of Katie's life (gag). One time they threatened to leave Oakdale and I was cheering them on.

Well, no one forced you to watch, R146. I did not watch one scene that did not include a gay, or Emma or Lucinda.

R146, I remember sitting there watching that crap wondering who the fuck thought that was a good idea. Katie by herself was all kinds of wrong but adding Brad was that much worse. I resent them for destroying the last years of a great soap.

Yes, 134. Yes. Wyndham's Rachel was a great character to watch before and after the transformation.

Jeff Martin on AMC was also de-SORASed. James O'Sullivan, born in 1944, left the show in 1979. The character returned seven years later played by Jeffrey Byron (Anna Lee's son IRL), who was born in 1955. He was fired and replaced by an equally young actor named Robert Tripp. And then Tripp was fired. The character in his younger incarnation just never caught on, and had a really odd exit. Tripp's Jeff hadn't been seen for months. All of sudden they gave the character an exit scene, played by one of the original actors to play the role, Charles Frank. Frank had just returned for a cameo appearance in the "Erica's men" dream sequence that she had when giving birth to Bianca. The producers asked him to hang around and shoot a Jeff exit scene. So the character was de-SORASed and then SORAS-ed again.

Well, let's be honest, the Erica Kane character was de-SORASed.

R6, I agree; I just watched a scene where Rachel slaps Cecil (Nancy); I loved Susan Keith, but Cecil really made it her own; she's very akin to Abby Ewing, and that's the highest compliment I can give.

Robert Kelker Kelly did a great job replacing Peter Reckell.

Love, love, love Sherry Stringfield.

I agree: Collins in for Dusay was terrific.

Dusay was Myrna. She was Vanessa. She was NOT Alexandra.

R138, it could be; Lemay's still alive; he's gotta be 94 + !!!

I thought J. Eddie Peck was a better replacement Jake Martin (AMC) than gross Ricky Paull Goldin.

On the online AMC reboot, the recasts of Petey, Cassandra, JR,and Colby all had potential . Sigh..what could have been.

I agree with everything R154 said!

R154 I agree except for Cassandra. I didn't think she was very good.

I thought the actress playing Colby (Brooke Newton) was the real find. I'm really surprised no other soap snapped her up. She was attractive, had star quality and talent. You can't say that about many young soap actresses these days. But from looking at her IMDb page, she has been working a lot post AMC the reboot, so she doesn't really need to do soaps right now.

Best recasts evah: Carole Shelley and Carmen Duncan as Iris on AW; Lydia Bruce and Marj Dusay as Alex on GL.

Carmen Duncan, yes, but I could not get used to Marj Dusay.

Anyone who replaced McKinsey and that terrible voice of hers was a better recast.

Some of my personal OLTL bests

Slezak and Strasser of course Judith Light Pat Elliott (do most even realize someone else originated the role of Renee?) Nathan Fillion Dan Gauthier Laura Bonarrigo Jerry ver Dorn Elaine Princi Grace Phillips

You think Jerry ver Dorn was superior to Clint Ritchie? That's laughable.

R160 Who did Nathan replace? Hadn't the role been vacant for some time?

Am I the only one who thought that Christine Jones was superior as Viki? Sleestak should never have come back from her maternity leave.

r162, Nathan replaced Chris McKenna who had been on the show for 4 years. The role was only vacant for a couple months in 1994, I believe. Oddly enough, Chris McKenna now would probably make an excellent 'older' Joey even though I believe he was let go because they wanted to mature the character for the romance with Dorian.

Chandler Massey as WIll Horton. Duh.

r161, The Clint Ritchie of the 80s was no more. Jerry ver Dorn was not playing the "cowboy", but he was more vital in the role than anything CR did in his last several years.

Sleestack favored herself as the Queen Bee of OLTL. I agree that Christine Jones was fantastic as Viki. So much so that they brought her back a couple years later as Asa's wife.

r163 = Sue Lucci

Sue Lucci has a dried up old snatch. So does Sleestack.

[quote] Dusay was Myrna. She was Vanessa. She was NOT Alexandra.

She was great as Alex for the first few years.

When she came back after AMC, I think a combination of bad writing, little or no direction, plus Dusay leaning a bit too much on some of the tics she'd honed as Vanessa, affected her portrayal of Alexandra.

Sue Lucci's diet consists of one lifesaver every 2 days.

And one Cheerio every Sunday morning.

Sleestack, on the other hand has ballooned up. She's rather plump now.

Victoria Sleestak is DL royalty.

Beth Chamberlain was a very good recast. Worked really well with Tina Sloan and The Dongster.

She played well to the Pendulous One.

I would consider Karen Witter a successful recast as well, especially in such an iconic role. She made it her own and became popular in her own right.

those Tina recasts always had a way of making me cringe, it's hard for me to choose which one I disliked the most with their varying degrees of bad acting.

R173 Have a link to any fat pics of Sleestack? She looked like someone who had to really watch her weight. She might be stress eating because she can't get any acting work and is just sitting around the house. In the last interview on her website, she seems to have finally realized she's never going to work again.

R177 I agree. She was praised by soap journalists back then and was accepted by most of the fans as well. Krista Teseau was awful though.

The worst OLTL recast was the Kevin who lasted maybe 3 or 4 weeks tops, Ken something was his name. He was obviously hired for his looks and muscles and seemingly had no acting experience. He couldn't act his way out of a paper bag and was quickly written (off camera, I believe) out.

OLTL also had that clunker Rachel recast in 1995 who started the drug storyline. She was awful. I would have never bought Ellen Bethea's Rachel having a drug problem.

Whether you preferred Andrea Evans over her, Karen Witter was definitely considered a success.

The song doesn't work with that picture collage, R165. No one "fixed" Will Horton, or even seemed to want to. But oh, how I wish it had been EJ who tried.

God, did that ever not work, R182 R165.

What did you bitches think of Marsha Clark as dykyTina?

OMG. I forgot about Marsha Clark. She always had a dykey vibe. Even on GL when she played opposite John Wesley Shipp, who had no chemistry with women. It was so obvious that he's gay.

I agree about Witter; Kimberly Simms is another one who came in and made the role her own. I don't think they worried too much about what people thought or what came before; they just came in and did their job.

Ann Hamilton is the definitive Mindy Lewis.

Barbara Crampton as Mindy.

Kimberly Simms WAS Mindy Lewis.

My recast was in primetime, but I've been told it transcends mere classifications such as daytime or primetime. But I must stop. I don't want to blow my own horn too much.

r190, oh yes. Now I remember you, You were a complete and utter failure.

I liked Karen Witter over Andrea Evans in one respect. Karen didn't have those skeevy eye bags Ms Andrea had. A friend of mine worked with Andrea and that was the one thing(her eye bags) he remembered about her.Karen wasn't bad for an ex-Playboy girl but she was not a great actress. She was nice to look at but couldn't act. Then again Chuck Lorre fell for her looks and her act!

Andrea Evans was the creepiest person who ever appeared on television. I used to work with someone who would take lunch at 2:00 to watch OLTL. Occasionally, I'd look over his shoulder when I went in to ask him a question. Her voice, her look, her manner, they all skeeved me.

The Worst Soap Recast Ever.

Andrea rocked! No one, and I mean NO ONE could touch her Tina! Marilyn Monroe with a bitchy edge, sexy as all getout, eyebags or no eyebags. What about her ex, Wayne Massey? I never understood why he had such a radical cosmetic surgery makeover. He was better looking before.

[quote] No one "fixed" Will Horton, or even seemed to want to. But oh, how I wish it had been EJ who tried.

EJ and Will would have been smoking hot.

Heather Tom as Katie Logan

Pinched Sphincter as Pinched Sphincter.

If OLTL had let Joey come out as originally planned, would Ryan Phillippe have played the part or Chris McKenna?

r199, Chris McKenna had been playing Joey since 1990.

Has Alicia Minshew been mentioned yet? Her Kendall was different from SMG's, but any shortcomings she had as an actress were overcome by her off the charts charisma. Actually, AMC had good luck with the actresses cast as Erica's daughter. Loved Eden Riegel, but Christina Bennett Lind was also quite good as Bianca towards the end of the series.

Guy T. Strudel

Both Wendy Moniz and Gina Tognoni were great as Dinah replacements. Its a shame that GT didn't have better material to work with. GL was a shit show by then.

I liked Eden as Bianca, but it is too bad they did not recast her with someone like Lind earlier. Her coming and going her last few years made it difficult to do much with the character. Although I don't blame her for bolting for what they did to her lesbian wedding story line with her partner longing for Zack and the marriage immediately imploding.

Jed Allen WAS CC Capwell!

You know, Sarah Brown as Carly was a force of nature. She was able to make Carly - who did some horrible things - still be vulnerable. And at a time when Maurice was at the top of his game, she was able to match him scene for scene - she made Carly Sonny's equal.

But Tamara Braun was also a great Carly. I didn't like her at first - she came off too frail, too timid, trying too hard to keep up with Maurice but failing badly - at the beginning. But by the time she left the role, I really hated seeing her leave. While her Carly was never Sonny's equal, she played the mob wife role quite well, and when she had to play emotional scenes - you could feel her pain to the core.

Laura Wright's Carly is okay. She was the adult version of Carly for a while - but at this point, Carly is just a Sonny apologist - doesn't matter what he does, she stands by him.

I agree, R206. I hated Carly from the day she came to GH and began eating the show, but SJB played her with so many layers we got to see her vulnerability along with her hyper-agressiveness. It didn't make her likeable or sympathetic, but it made some of her behavior a little more understandable, even if her reasons for doing the things she did were beyond stupid and backward. She was mad at Bobbie for giving her up for adoption so she set out to destroy Bobbie's life? She should have tried growing up in a whorehouse; that trailer park would have looked like paradise.

Tamara Braun's take on the character was an interesting and unexpected change. Carly was still a rabid cur more often than not, but she was behind her husband 100% and I respected her for that. I also liked that she wasn't humping Jason's leg every chance she got, unlike SJB and LW's Carlys. She was Carly with some boundaries, and I liked her version best of all.

Laura Wright has no nuance. She plays a one-dimensional Carly, a shrieking hysterical narcissistic mess, with no rhyme nor reason for acting the way she does. She is by far my least favorite Carly. She was better with Ingo because he was able to tone her down a little, but she generally makes terrible acting choices.

I think one of the best things about Sarah Browne was she worked so well with Jacklyn Zeman and helped Zeman to really be at the top of her game. The scenes where Carly finally admitted to Bobbie who she really was were spellbinding and both actresses were fantastic. Poor Zeman was never given much more to do after that.

Browne was also incredible when playing opposite Tony Geary. Wish they had had more scenes together.

Damn I loathed Minshew and the way Zendall (and Rylee) ate the show alive in its sad later years. She was no SMG, and to transform her into a heroine and be the focus of the show was all types of wrong. Thanks Frons!! Re Bianca, I actually liked Christina Lind better than Riegel. A lot better, in fact. She had insane chemistry with the actress who played Marissa.

I'm the one who posted pro-Minshew, but I agree--I hated how Kendall, Zach, Ryan, and Greenlee became the whole show, basically, in the last few years. It helped bringing Debbi Morgan and Darnell Williams back, and the Lorraine Broderick writing towards the end helped, but it was too little too late. Frons had killed the show.

Yep, AMC was filled with a lot of unlikeable people.

I liked Bianca but between having a straight dude rape her, the Zoe/Zarf business, and her carrying Zach's baby, they worked hard to deliberately ruin her character.

[quote]they worked hard to deliberately ruin her character.

They worked to hard simply having her in a normal gay relationship. AMC did some good coming out stories - Micheal, Kevin, Bianca - but they seemed to be reluctant to go the next step and show a normal gay relationship. I think Michael did end up dating a doctor, but by then he was basically back burnered and if you saw them - they were not even holding hands. They would be watching TV usually not even on the same piece of furniture if I remember correctly.

Bianca and Frankie had potential -- Bianca fully out and proud - Frankie coming to terms with her sexuality - Vanessa and Erica at odds. Instead they killed her off and ruined the great amoral socialite Vanessa by making her a murderous psychopath. They did not need any bisexual spies or forced to have sex and a baby via rape or falling for a man who identified as female so they could have the shocker scene of Bianca kissing a man etc. A simple young love blossoming with interfering family members would have been enough and much better.

Meant for that first sentence to read

"They worked too hard to prevent her from having a normal gay relationship"

[quote] "They worked too hard to prevent her from having a normal gay relationship"

Yes. And then two of her stories were with men. Lesbians generally do not like to have sex with penised persons, and yet there was Michael Cambias the rapist and Zoe the tranny.

[quote] On GL, Hillary Edson was much better as Eve than the mousy Janet Grey, who originated the role. The character was off the canvas a good ten years before the writers brought her back.

Those were two different characters.

Eve Stapleton (70s Eve) was Rita's sister. She and Ben left town in the early 80s, never to return.

Eve Guthrie (90s Eve) was much younger, and was a doctor. She had a relationship with Nick, and tried to come between Nick and Mindy (Roger had coaxed her to Springfield). She eventually hooked up with Ed, who was engaged to her when she died of leukemia.

SOAPS!? Who in hell watches them?

Lesbians 18-49 are the target audience for soaps.

Thank you for that moving, insightful monologue, R216.

I'm a lesbian like Mo Garrett.

r210, welcome to Brian Frons' ABC daytime. Each show focused on a core group of vile characters. The male "stars" were especially awful. Frons wanted OLTL/AMC to follow GH's lead with Carly/Sonny/Jason/Sam. OLTL was the only one which tried to fight it along the way, which is why Frons was always gunning for it before the other two.

R207. you nailed it; can't stand her.

And yet she has an Emmy.

Go figure.

None of these awful writers can write strong female characters. It's really ridiculous, especially now with actual female writers.

this wasn't a 'recast' by any means, but often soaps will bring on a new character to fill the void of an exiting star/character or after trying to recast a beloved actor.

I think DAYS brought Marlena on after attempts to find another Laura Horton failed

That said, I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed Judith Chapman on GH as Ginny Blake since she was filling the void of beloved Lesley.

I would have LOVED it if Rick and Ginny had come back to town after Lesley popped up alive in 1996. Was Ginny's marriage to Rick legal if Les was alive? I would have liked to have seen that played out; instead, we got Rick back in early 2000s, his history butchered, savaged, re-written and the longtime viewers got screwed.

Judith McConnell replacing Rosemary Forsyth as Sophia in Santa Barbara. Judith is a fantastic, underrated actress... Those scenes of her in the breast cancer storyline, checking herself for a lump and then finding one. One of the most haunting scenes I can remember in daytime....

R224 Santa Barbara was GREAT.

r224 I don't recall Sophia Capwell having a breast cancer storyline on Santa Barbara.

Now on GL, the character of Lillian Raines had breast cancer and found a lump on her breast in exactly the manner your describe.

No it was definitely SB. Judith McConnell was magnificent in it, and she was even more beautiful than Linda Evans was back in the day.

Isn't McConnell a big dykey lez?

Best soap recast? Well, Julianne Moore, seriously!

The actress she replaced died young:

on the topic is BEST recasts, I'll always like Hillary B. Smith and Gregg Marx as Margo and Tom.

DL fave Van Hansis was a better Luke than Kim Zimmer's son.

Funny how Weary is now the one on a hit primetime show.

Nancy Frangione as Cecile.

She had an almost masculine quality at times, despite her quintessential bad girl status. Her little talk to God in the chapel after Peter's poisoning on their wedding day could have been delivered by any male soap villain of the time, even JR on Dallas.

Hansis career has tanked, bigtime.

Has Robin MATTSON (as Gina) been mentioned yet? Arguably FTW.

Robin Mattson's Gina was probably the most over the top villainess I can remember in a soap! I preferred Linda Gibboney in the role though as the more poised version of Gina.

I also preferred Gibboney. Mattson always looks like she's about to vomit or heave dry air before every line.

I also preferred Mary O'Brien as Heather; she played Heather's machinations in a less obvious way.

Trying to think of any role Mattson played that I preferred her to another/original player.

Maybe Tiffany's pal on Charlie's Angels in the Tiffany's psychic episode.

I think it would be a SCREAM if they recast Luke Spencer!

They could never find the right actress to recast Luke.

I don't really like him as a person, but Robert Kelker-Kelly as Bo (1992-1995) is my favorite recast ever.

Actually it's Ivory to Dove.