Gone But Not Forgotten: Characters/Actors You Miss

[Lamplighter]

For me, Stacey Haiduk as Emily Peterson.  (And I could have managed a few drive by visits from CrazyCakes, so long as she was a bumbling comic villain.)

 

Loved me some Marge.  Recognize that presents a present day casting problem. 

 

 

[LittleIggy]

Larry Wharton! He and Jill were awesome, and he had a sweet relationship with Cassie when she was little.

[PsychedelicTrip]

Pretty Ricky.  Peter Porte was gorgeous and talented.  The sheer waste of him still boggles the mind. 

 

The other absolute waste was SH as PattyJane.   Ricky and Patty were the shit!  Never a dull moment with either of them.  Fantastic actors and characters! 

Edited May 3, 2014 by PsychedelicTrip

[PinkCupcake]

Brad Carlton.  The show needs that good looking, smooth talking, savvy in business cad, and DonD played that perfectly.  I also thought that he and SC had lots of chemistry.and would've loved to seen them become a legit couple.  I think Brad truly cared for Sharon, and if she had gotten her head out of Nick's butt for 5 seconds and given Brad a chance, they could've been great to watch.  Alas, we had to see Thighs O' Doom Brad turned into a Bradsicle... so shortsighted!  At least Brad Bell snapped up DonD and I can enjoy watching his asshole-with-a-heart $Bill on B&B.

 

Also:

 

Pretty Ricky.  Peter Porte was gorgeous and talented.  The sheer waste of him still boggles the mind.

 

Totally agree with this.  MAB in her typical over-the-top bullcrap writing had to make Ricky TEH EVUL instead of creating a compelling, multi-faceted character that Ricky should've been.  Peter Porte would've been up for the task IMO if he had simply been given better material; I saw him creating layers where there weren't any in the writing just by his facial expressions and voice intonations.  And yeah, he was hot too.  :)

[SweePea59]

But, and this is a big butt, although I think it was complete stupidity to kill off Bradski, I am enjoying $Bill so f-in' much! It turned out to be great for B&B, great for DonD, and great for this viewer. But if I could turn back time and not have Bradski bradsickled, I kinda wanna say yeah. 

 

And allow me to state the obvious - John Abbott. GhostDad was an odd choice, but I just had to go with it, ya know, because how else would we have John sort of? And Alister didn't really work out that well. I thought they should have brought him back as John's brother, Uncle So-and-so, and written him in as John-like but maybe with an edge. Could have been great.

[SweePea59]

Another good villain was Tom Fisher played by Roscoe Born. He was fantastic. I was so sorry they killed him off. What a waste. He should have left town, to return at a later date, and then of course John would not have gone to prison and died.

 

Another gigantic mistake was killing off Jill's REAL MOTHER Liz Foster. So much about this pisses me off I can't go there with it.

 

Speaking of the Fosters, I would love to have original recipe Snapper and original recipe Greg back. With families. It was a treat when they were back in GC for about a week. And then turned into David Hasselhoff and Wings Hauser, lol, but they were good, too! Especially The Hoff.

A little off-topic, but speaking of the Fosters... in another thread here someone jokingly posted about the final scene of Y&R, which got me thinking that I want the final scene to be of Jill.

[JasonCC]

I also agree the final scene of Y&R--should it go off the air--should be Jill. No question.

With Katherine's death it occurred to me it would have been nice to have had Liz Foster around for Jill. Her death deserved to be more than a two-episode arc that was really about a stunt move (David Hasselhoff back for one episode) and that lame Jill/Lauren half-sister plot twist (although the two actors do well with that now).

 

Ricky, Patty, and Ronan were good additions by MAB. They were new characters with ties to the existing GC families.

[Lamplighter]

The last scene better be Jill... she's about the last man standing from original recipe Y&R.  

 

I'd forgotten about John.... yes, I'd rather he stayed with the show, although they wrote him to the point of boring (nothing but pep talks or preaching) and pathetic (the marry-go-round, matrimonying any stray in need of a millionaire husband.)  

 

If they tried for a reboot I think there's a nice opportunity in reviving the Fosters and Brooks Prentiss too... or any of the Brooks girls could have had kids we don't know about yet off screen.   But no, lets invent fabulous new characters like Dullan and Moronah. 

[LeftPhalange]

Having Jana go crazy and then killing her off was such a waste. I think she was the perfect person for Kevin. I also miss Amber and Daniel.

 

Billy Miller should still be here for obvious reasons.

Edited May 3, 2014 by LeftPhalange

[pearlite]

Obvious, no! Killing John Abbott was one of their dumbest moves, to me. The sort of triad of John, Katherine, and Victor had a peculiar balance to it--and sadly, that's shot now.

And allow me to state the obvious - John Abbott. GhostDad was an odd choice, but I just had to go with it, ya know, because how else would we have John sort of? And Alister didn't really work out that well. I thought they should have brought him back as John's brother, Uncle So-and-so, and written him in as John-like but maybe with an edge. Could have been great.

And on other notes--was the original Snapper Foster William Grey Espy? If so, I thought he had charm in an odd way--I think I remember him from a spurt of watching AW.

And the amazing vileness that Roscoe Borne brought--when he went, the Fishers dribbled off into Chipmunkville.

[PatsyandEddie]

Killing off Dr. Tim was such a waste! I was so excited to see him back and then he croaks while Phyl is doing her sessy dance. I hated how he got rolled up in a rug and then dumped on the floor.

[SweePea59]

Killing off Dr. Tim was such a waste! I was so excited to see him back and then he croaks while Phyl is doing her sessy dance. I hated how he got rolled up in a rug and then dumped on the floor.

If you're dead in GC I guess you're dead in LA as well. No more B&B for him either, since he played the same character there. Too bad Phyllis didn't dance for Amber.

[buckmom]

Yes, John, Larry, Brad, Dr Tim, Liz Foster, etc. for sooo many reasons. Then for my personal 'shipful reasons_things have NEVER been the same since we lost Colleen (Adrianna Leon) and Adrian Korbel.

[LittleIggy]

Killing John Abbott and Liz Foster was epic stupidity. They were cornerstones of the show.

[canucktvwatcher]

Ji Minh (sp?) was a good match with Jill also. The character brought another suave, savvy business player into GC, and he and Jill had chemistry. He was also wasted as well.

Another character which was not developed as well as he could have been was Tucker. Stephen Nichols did a good job with him, though they didn't write the character very well. Another wasted opportunity. What's even sadder is that they could have done it right TWICE, with Original Recipe Tucker (William Russ) OR Stephen Nichols. I consider the waste of the character of a Tucker as another example of MAB's reign of terror on the show and why she needed to be shown the door as showrunner.

[Oly]

Loved Ji Mihn but he was not on long enough for me to be attached---he was very popular though and could have been an incredible and breakthrough character--such a dumb move by Y&R--he had fans from other places and was liked a lot --so much potential wasted---

 

and yeah---I am in the minority--did not care for William Russ/knew him from AW back in the day---I do like Stephen Nichols from way back but I do concede that the character of Tucker was meddled with by too many---he had so much potential and could still be there today but the alienation by those who do not know Stephen Nichols or did not like this character was already too late and there was no way to pull it back---it is the shows loss---

[pearlite]

Oh, Ji Minh! He was fantastic with Jill, and he actually brought some shading into his character--getting rid of him was indeed a waste of potential.

Loved Ji Mihn but he was not on long enough for me to be attached---he was very popular though and could have been an incredible and breakthrough character--such a dumb move by Y&R--he had fans from other places and was liked a lot --so much potential wasted---

 

and yeah---I am in the minority--did not care for William Russ/knew him from AW back in the day---I do like Stephen Nichols from way back but I do concede that the character of Tucker was meddled with by too many---he had so much potential and could still be there today but the alienation by those who do not know Stephen Nichols or did not like this character was already too late and there was no way to pull it back---it is the shows loss---

And now, Stephen Nichols. Let me join in the chorus here--thanks, Oly and canucktvwatcher [that's hard to type]. Nichols is a soap classic and actually an interesting actor. He's one I wouldn't require to buy a ticket to the GCAC Ham Buffet because he can do subtle stuff. I was so damn relieved when he showed up on the show, then progressively more po'd about the way the character was written.

[LittleIggy]

Agree about Ji Minh (hottie!) and Tucker. Tucker had the potential to be a rival to Victurd, but that was frittered away (EB probably nixed that).

[SweePea59]

I loved William Russ as Tucker, in the beginning before they destroyed their own creation. I think the epic fail of Tucker was only half due to the horrible writing. The other half was SN. I only know him from his work as Tucker and he did a lousy job. He was all wrong for the part which showed me he was a limited actor who was poorly cast. He did not look good with Jill which was another mistake in casting. In fact, I don't think he looked good with the rest of the cast, his head being so small. He was his least bad with Ashley, but who can forget that idiotic glass door breaking scene, or that scene at the airport where they were both upstaged by a glass vase of light green stalks in the background. In theory, and if played by WR or someone else who could also portray strength, Tucker could have been not only a rival to AssPaw, but could also have taken him down. Instead we got SN who played Tucker like a pussypuff. I hope they never bring that character back, with SN, with WR, or with anyone in the role. His whole existence was stupit. Yeah, with two t's. Good riddance, Schmucker. Don't let the (glass) door hit you on the ass.

 

If someone makes a Glad To See You Go thread, I'll move my post there. There are a few I hope never return...

[miamama]

I think Jana being killed off was a HUUUUGE mistake. She was a beautiful young woman who could seriously act. And what was especially galling was that she was killed off -- it appears -- to make room for the boring ass Chloe and Kevin pairing.

 

This show's love affair with legacy characters is pathetic. Jana could have slowly been moved into any storyline with any characters. She was developed in a nice way -- quirky, artsy, funny. She had that spark that you just can't write -- they tried other young women -- Eden (in a bunch of recasts), Heather (in a bunch of recasts), that disastrous Adrianna, and now the horrible Courtney. 

 

And Jana was the only woman who could believably be paired with Kevin. They could have been a very fun supporting couple on this show. Makes me mad when I think of how they destroyed and then killed off Jana. grrrrr.

 

They should bring on Jana's identical twin who is American (the actress actually put on the accent I understand). She could replace the boring as shit Courtney as a love interest for Noah.

[Snaporaz]

Jana fit right in with all of the Fishers.  She had a great rapport with Gloria (before Gloria turned on her in favor of stupid Chloe), and was also very natural with Michael and Lauren.  And you're absolutely right, miamama...she was perfect and believable with Kevin.  They all really seemed like a family, and the Fishers started falling apart for me when Jana left the fold.

Edited May 5, 2014 by Snaporaz

[Suby]

Ji Minn had thee sexiest voice evah!  *swoon*  And yes he was great with Jill!  So was Larry Wharton.  So was William Russ as Schmucker.  No wonder poor Jill is so frustrated. All her great partners leave :(   TR is okay as Colin, but he seems too old and not sassy enough for Dirty Martini Jill.  Plus he has a flat ass.

 

Too bad Phyllis didn't dance for Amber.

Bwhahahaha!  Gawd I HATED Amber. So freaking annoying and grating.

[Aquarius]

Brad Carlton.  The show needs that good looking, smooth talking, savvy in business cad, and DonD played that perfectly.  I also thought that he and SC had lots of chemistry.and would've loved to seen them become a legit couple.  I think Brad truly cared for Sharon, and if she had gotten her head out of Nick's butt for 5 seconds and given Brad a chance, they could've been great to watch. 

 

+1.  I loved Brad from his pool boy days . . . everything about the way the character developed over time was organic and believable in a soap sense, even given that he ended up running Newman Enterprises with Jack.  (Those portraits!  Such good times!)  It all made sense given what we were shown on screen.  That is until -

 

Alas, we had to see Thighs O' Doom Brad turned into a Bradsicle... so shortsighted!

 

For this, and for Brad's pathetic Chicks-Only funeral, I will never forgive this show.  I will continue to watch for that is my problem, but never forgive.

 

Now, stepping into the way-back machine for a moment, a character I would never have gotten rid of was Colonel Austen.  Pricktor needs that sort of hanger-on confidante who can call him on his bullshit from time to time.  I honestly see the loss of the Colonel as the beginning of current SuperTool Victor.  Not a good thing.

 

I also hate that they killed off Liz Foster (and the stupidity of Jill being adopted!).  And killing off Hope was bad too.

[canucktvwatcher]

+1.  I loved Brad from his pool boy days . . . everything about the way the character developed over time was organic and believable in a soap sense, even given that he ended up running Newman Enterprises with Jack.  (Those portraits!  Such good times!)  It all made sense given what we were shown on screen.  That is until -

 

 

For this, and for Brad's pathetic Chicks-Only funeral, I will never forgive this show.  I will continue to watch for that is my problem, but never forgive.

 

Now, stepping into the way-back machine for a moment, a character I would never have gotten rid of was Colonel Austen.  Pricktor needs that sort of hanger-on confidante who can call him on his bullshit from time to time.  I honestly see the loss of the Colonel as the beginning of current SuperTool Victor.  Not a good thing.

 

I also hate that they killed off Liz Foster (and the stupidity of Jill being adopted!).  And killing off Hope was bad too.

You had me up until St. Hope. I never could stand this character, and I was not sad to see her go, to be honest. I thought that whole storyline was contrived and stupid. Hope was just such a one-sided character, and in the whole scheme of things, Victurd didn't learn a goddamned thing during his time with her - he continues to be a vengeful, douchey asswipe. Plus, he ended up turning on Adam anyways, and constantly manipulated him. Not that Adam wasn't a piece of shit on his own sometimes, but Turd was the catalyst that helped push Adam over the edge, IMO.

Completely agree about Vic's pal, Col. Austen. If I remember right, wasn't that Turd's boozy old running buddy? He was like the Greek Chorus for Turd when he'd go off the rails. You know, like the time he locked an adversary in the basement? Gah! I liked watching his interactions with that old fart; there's nothing more satisfying than seeing someone who knows who Turd is REALLY, raking The Old Rusty Black Knight over the coals with a glass of scotch in his hand. Good times! Shit, missed opportunity to not have Murph Dawg slip into this role, dispensing half-crocked advice to Turd!

[LittleIggy]

Yeah, I loved the Colonel. He was a real friend to Victurd, calling him on his crap. Col. Austen was a humanizing element for the old fart. Plus he was comic relief.

[canucktvwatcher]

Yeah, I loved the Colonel. He was a real friend to Victurd, calling him on his crap. Col. Austen was a humanizing element for the old fart. Plus he was comic relief.

Yeah, he was! He was kind of a lecherous old bastard, and like another side to Turd, really. The "Hanger On Dirty Rotten Scoundrel" character this guy played to a tee! Love that you pegged him as a "Hanger On", Aquarius! Right on the money!

[LittleIggy]

Damn it, I miss Miguel! He was astounding - did the cooking, baking, cleaning, laundry, childrearing, filling of booze decanters, etc. Never a spot on his white jacket.

[luvreddington]

"filling of booze decanters"

 

Losing it on that one.

[Aquarius]

So glad to see others remember and loved Colonel Austen!  Can you just imagine him today, gesturing with his glass of scotch, saying things like "Because Victor Newman never loses."  Or, "And Victor Newman always protects his family."  Ah, he had such a way of delivering lines like that.  I really miss him.  And the sad thing is, he just disappeared.  Stupid show.

 

And Miguel!  Another lost gem of the Newman household.  Remember when they replaced him briefly with that stupid Estellerita woman who ran the front desk of the ranch (seriously, WTH was that??). 

 

And the booze decanters!  The first thing my brother bought for his own place was a crystal bar set, because of seeing it all the time on Y&R.  Good times!

[Snaporaz]

I'm pretty sure the man who played Douglas died in real life.  They may have written his death into the show as well, but I can't remember.  They only recently mentioned that Mary Williams died.

[pearlite]

Agh, Mary Williams! Mind you, she may have been a really good actress and played miserable dishrag to the hilt... But sometimes all I remember about her are comments like Paul revering the memory of her pot roast and sauerkraut. Not a combination I want to think about.

[Snaporaz]

Oh, I wasn't saying I wish the character of Mary was back!  I just meant that I know the actress died a few years ago, but they only recently mentioned that Mary had died.  

And the sauerkraut was paired with spare ribs.  She made that a lot! 

[LittleIggy]

One thing I liked about Mary was that she disliked Christine.

[pearlite]

Oh, I wasn't saying I wish the character of Mary was back!  I just meant that I know the actress died a few years ago, but they only recently mentioned that Mary had died.  

And the sauerkraut was paired with spare ribs.  She made that a lot! 

Okay--that makes more sense; I had trouble getting my head around pot roast with sauerkraut. Didn't seem to work together.

 

And the help--nobody has help [except for Jill, and Esther is more of a fixture with a feather duster than anything else]. Is this cast-reduction or some kind of democratic gesture? I miss Mamie and Miguel.

 

And Miguel!  Another lost gem of the Newman household.  Remember when they replaced him briefly with that stupid Estellerita woman who ran the front desk of the ranch (seriously, WTH was that??). 

 

And the booze decanters!  The first thing my brother bought for his own place was a crystal bar set, because of seeing it all the time on Y&R.  Good times!

Aha, those decanters front and centre! I've used those so many times as examples in film courses to teach students about getting depth into shots. And I always used Y & R...ya can't always be talkin' Vertigo...

[cmb81]

Brad - We we seriously missing this man on this show. We have always needed a third party to rival Jack and Victor who was younger but just like them. That was Brad. He was also not related to them which made it even more fun when he would sleep with their sisters, wives, and daughters. We need another Brad on this show.

 

Colleen - I will never understand killing her off.

 

Ricky - He was a great villain. Again. Waste.

[Blade]

Deacon Sharpe - Don't know if he's totally gone, per se, but I'd love to see the look of I smell piss and vinegar on Victor and Nikki's face whenever they happen to share the same room with him.  Love it when Victor gets all kinds of uncomfortable and constipated.

 

Tucker - Would love to see him back, and not as the cotton-topped Colonel Sanders who was originally cast.  Nichols' Tucker was the best by far, and his Tucker wasn't destined to be permanently chained to Jill.  Never liked the fact that Jill always came off so needy and greedy with both of the Tuckers.  Of course, Nichols was so much easier to look at ;-)  Since Jack is destined to always lose to Victor, Nichols' Tucker would be a breath of fresh air if he were to return and knock him down a peg or ten. 

 

Emily Peterson - Tragic waste of massive story potential. 

[pearlite]

Agreed--Sean Kanan was good in the mix; he worked! However...see below...

Deacon Sharpe - Don't know if he's totally gone, per se, but I'd love to see the look of I smell piss and vinegar on Victor and Nikki's face whenever they happen to share the same room with him.  Love it when Victor gets all kinds of uncomfortable and constipated.

 

Tucker - Would love to see him back, and not as the cotton-topped Colonel Sanders who was originally cast.  Nichols' Tucker was the best by far, and his Tucker wasn't destined to be permanently chained to Jill.  Never liked the fact that Jill always came off so needy and greedy with both of the Tuckers.  Of course, Nichols was so much easier to look at ;-)  Since Jack is destined to always lose to Victor, Nichols' Tucker would be a breath of fresh air if he were to return and knock him down a peg or ten. 

Your keyboard to God's ears, Blade! Good to have company in the Stephen Nichols is a Soap God club--I think I might have been the only member here. And I do miss him as Tucker--he was gradually working into an interesting counterbalance to the other big shots.

[Snaporaz]

Deacon is supposed to be back on B&B soon.

As for Tucker, I'm totally with you.  He was such an interesting character with a lot of layers.  And if they were planning on making Miss Devon a central character, why get rid of his father while their relationship was still strained.  I hated how judgmental Devon was towards Tucker, but I liked the dynamic they shared the few times they actually got along.  (I also agree that the second Tucker was the better one.)

[Blade]

Pearlite - you are definitely not alone.  Count me in!  The show really screwed up when they lost Stephen Nichols.  He was pair-able with most of the female characters (whereas Cotton Top definitely was not).  SN oozed a debonair billionaire aurora and certainly came off as someone who could take Victor down. With the loss of Katherine, Tucker could have kept the Chancellor legacy alive and kicking. Like I said, TPTB totally screwed up in losing Stephen Nichols.

 

Snaporaz - Totally agree about Miss Devon. Tremendous potential lost there. Of course, I'll never understand why Devon was so quick to forgive the ones who were to blame for keeping him and Tucker apart, yet held Tucker responsible for global warming.  Sadly, when SN left, so did my interest in Miss Devon.

[Oly]

I agree Blade---except I never had any interest in Devon except in the very beginning--he worked very well with Drew but after not so much---but then came the aunt and all the rest and after that Devon  was useless and whinny--just did not care for any of it with SN or JC--all kinds of bad--I think that SN got a bad review due to horrid character and writing development---he  could have really owned Tucker (in spite of several stoopid off ramps---insta sleeping with various characters and then the whole Harmony retcon--ick--and I love me some Debbie Morgan too but she was wasted here) and I believe based on my years of watching Patch and Stefan Cassidine that he had the range to really do something but the bad writing and then change in management ruined it all --so sad for the show---he coulda been a contender---sigh (never cared for the first tucker when he was on AW or Y&R) SN could have rocked it with better writing and not so many dumb retcons but alas just like numerous other characters that were wasted they wasted him--big mistake---they need him now but no we have Dullard and Grampire running amuck and a crap story for Tristan Rogers---why? and never forget JiMin--lol 

[kia112]

I'll always miss my Davetta Sherwood so much as Lily and I miss Daniel.  I miss Dru as a friend for Sharon and I miss the Ashley/Olivia friendship.

[Oly]

Yes on Davetta Sherwood--loved her and while I frequently hated Daniel's hair and for sure hated that whole idiotic porn story line I still liked the actor and yes I did love the Sharon and Dru friendship especially when you know who was spitting on her and having to share an office with her (another idiot story) As for the Ashley/Olivia thing I was on a break then--but I think my mom liked it.

[VictoriousNY2]

With all the things that have happen to Billy, I have wondered where is his best friend Rafe Torres? What happen to Rafe? He was one of my favorites of the new characters. He was there one day and gone the next. 

 

Im pretty much in the minority but I would like to see Amber come back to G.C.

[LeftPhalange]

Amber was supposed to come back months ago. I don't know what happened. I was looking forward to it.

[Aquarius]

With all the things that have happen to Billy, I have wondered where is his best friend Rafe Torres? What happen to Rafe? He was one of my favorites of the new characters. He was there one day and gone the next. 

 

He became a gay lawyer and Adam seduced him to keep him quiet about - oh wait, wrong Rafe.

 

Was Raf-AY-elllll called "Rafe"?  I honestly don't remember much about the character, other than the over-pronunciation of his full name.

[Aquarius]

I think Raul is the friend being talked about up thread. Rafe was brought on later and was the lawyer Adam abused and demeaned and several other atrocious descriptions,then Adam went on his happy way. 

You are so right!  It wasn't Raf-AY-ellll, it was Ra-ooooooool!

 

Thanks for setting it straight.

[Snaporaz]

They always pronounced it "Rowl", like "growl" without the g.  It never sounded right...

It's a little fuzzy to me, because he was pretty dull and I didn't pay much attention, but I think he and Mac were together.  He wanted to get married and she was rekindling her relationship with Billy, so he went on his merry way alone. 

I don't miss him much, but they can bring back his brother Diego any day!

Edited June 12, 2014 by Snaporaz

[Bill C.]

Sabrina Costelana.  Yeah, I said it...but conditionally.  She should have stuck around for a full year or so, just long enough to really flesh out her whirlwind romance with Victor (and by extension Nikki's with David Chow) and push her pregnancy back--hell, having her around during Out of the Ashes could have been fun--and then they could have killed her off, thus maintaining her unique status as Victor's only dead wife.

 

And there's the one-two punch of Brad and Colleen, which I still haven't forgiven the show for.  Given a choice I'd have absolutely kept both of them, but considering how the show was leaning at the time I reluctantly would have let Brad go and kept Colleen--and dragged Adrianne Leon kicking and screaming back to the show to do it.

[LittleIggy]

They need to bring back Leanna Love with an updated edition of "Ruthless."

[Runningwild]

Well, dang. It appears our loss is GH's gain. Billy Miller is reported to be the new Jason Morgan. They get one of the best actors on our show for one of the worst on theirs.

Edited June 13, 2014 by Runningwild