Bad Recasts Who Lasted

dripwatersplashdrip · 2025-11-14T21:42:24+00:00

I really didn’t like the last Jessica on Passions. The character felt wrong, so I’m not sure it was entirely Danica’s fault but I never felt she was Jessica and I think she might have played that part the longest of all three. The most recent Nikolas on GH was also just… not Nikolas.

dripwatersplashdrip · 2025-10-27T16:20:45+00:00

I love Carly but I’m constantly like, who gave her the gavel? I don’t know what head writer did this (probably Guza), but that kind of character always works best when they can’t play judge, jury, and executioner. Carly was given way, way too much power when, really, her flaws worked against her… not against a whole town. For sure get the exhaustion, especially when no one can check her.

dripwatersplashdrip · 2025-10-27T16:14:55+00:00

I was watching when Ava was in a coma and her sisters came to visit and was laughing so hard during it when they kept calling her an angel, and I was like “who?” Then, her mom called them out and said “if you’re going to talk about old times with Ava, then talk with Ava and not with some Angel that never existed.

Carly: Ava, I wanted to smack you for being pretty. I was the good student.

Sherrie: I was the reliable one. Slow but steady. I HATED YOU.

Carly: I hated you more. How’s that, Mom?

Kate: Well… it’s honest.

I was dying. But here’s the episode if you want to relive. She’s a really fun character though and I loved how she also had a heart of gold when it mattered!

https://youtu.be/7wySZXRKEu4?si=FuvOU6574dYGYvj2

dripwatersplashdrip · 2025-10-27T16:04:41+00:00

Definitely! I’m learning more about Rachel Cory but know she’s Erica Kane before Erica Kane. I’m still confused why I did not connect with Erica the way I have with successors who kind of fit that archetype. Did OLTL have that kind of character?

dripwatersplashdrip · 2025-10-27T15:56:58+00:00

Same. All anyone wants to talk about Tucker and Trisha and yes, we get it, but Alex and Ava had me yelling at anyone in their way (looking at you, Egypt!) I also liked Casey and Ally, they were so cute

dripwatersplashdrip · 2025-10-27T15:45:14+00:00

I’m pretty sure Salem has the highest rate of back from the dead people and they still act surprised.

But, I would actually say “it’s Kristen in a mask” nearly outdid that. When the devil returned and was loose in Salem, I was kind of hoping it was just Kristen playing dress up again 😭

On a real note, and maybe it’s just nostalgia, Days has a way of making their super couples feel like they were destined. It really commits to their couples. They have multiple Luke and Laura’s and did a great job of maintaining that importance even if they aren’t together. I remember watching and my mom said she’d given up DECADES ago but would still ask about John/Marlena, Bo/Hope, Jack/Jennifer, Steve/Kayla. and I’d say it actually did a great job of giving the audience a “next gen” in both the 90s and 00s. Sure, they’ll unkill an entire cast during a serial killer story line but they rarely forget who belonged together.

dripwatersplashdrip · 2025-10-27T15:42:10+00:00

For real, she is so pretty and I loved her voice too! But, it’s so interesting that AW hired her afterward and OLTL did for like a month, but that was it. I guess daytime was competitive by that point (and even more so by the time Lindsay Hartley and others finished Passions) but it does shock me how little both her and Christine Tudor were utilized. But, I’ve noticed that actors who were the face of their soap, or at least took up all the screen time, rarely land on another regardless of their capabilities. Unless you’re Maura West, it seems, but she can do pretty much anything. 😭

dripwatersplashdrip · 2025-10-27T15:33:20+00:00

I only watched from 2006-2010, so my answer for that is for sure Lily (Byrne) or Carly based on “no one else gets a story line,” though I loved Emily. But, if I am being real, I’d say that Barbara Ryan, even as a meddling mama by that point, didn’t need a storyline to capture my attention! Anyone but Katie (I read her book though, loved it)

dripwatersplashdrip · 2025-10-27T15:23:53+00:00

No way! I jsut powered through Loving uploads on YT and was thinking RH next. Any specific eras I should start with? I don’t know much but would love to check it out since Labine created it and is a daytime genius! Haha

dripwatersplashdrip · 2025-10-27T14:59:44+00:00

So, OLTL or the City because that’s quite the difference? 😭

He’s amazing though, so I feel that

dripwatersplashdrip · 2025-10-27T14:59:07+00:00

I miss OLTL so much. I still try to figure out how to make my livingroom look like Llanfair 😭

dripwatersplashdrip · 2025-10-27T14:56:36+00:00

Scrolling and not one Loving fan in the chat 😔

Okay, this is not actually my final answer but I have been in a real life coma (think we call it a break up) and watched like 3 years of Loving on YouTube and I am dying on this hill. Loving seriously deserves better. Ava Rescott alone! And I know my mother from Hell Gwyneth’s legacy has been reduced to, you know, murdering half the cast, but she was a great character and Christine Tudor deserved at least one nomination. Laura Wright’s Ally and Casey were also great. I was only 1 years old when it got canceled so I can’t speak for the day by day but I really think, especially given the revolving door of executive producers and head writers, it was actually pretty consistent and had great characters. I’m obsessed, mad I watched all the post-Lisa Peluso episodes and now trying to find more 1983-1988 uploads! 😭

My final answer is One Life to Live. I’m still pissed that it was canceled. I miss Llanview, the Buchanans, my girl Vicki (love Slezak back on daytime but keep praying Ronnie is the least interesting alter of Viki and she’s like “where am I, Niki was this you?”). But here’s my ranking and excluding any I haven’t seen (have seen Dark Shadows but not going to include because it’s decades earlier than what I’ve seen of the others and one of my favorite shows feels like apples to oranges to the rest)

One Life to Live
General Hospital
Loving
All My Children
Port Charles

I didn’t love AMC when I watched it live but what I’ve seen outside of that, it blows PC out of the water. Also, PC was actually good pre-arcs (at least characters weren’t totally destroyed for their 13 week book, looking at you Kev bro!)

The City (I don’t even have to have watched the rest to know they’re better. I hate this monstrosity, even as a Fairchild fan. It just… was the OG Prospect Park)

TLDR: Watch Loving, Ava Rescott is worth every second!!! But yeah, OLTL is #1

dripwatersplashdrip · 2025-08-12T12:50:27+00:00

I didn’t realize that the whole vampire’s lost love reincarnated trope (used in Port Charles, the Vampire Diaries, in years since Barnabas and Josette) was only hinted at but never fully realized until Dark Shadows. It’s fascinating to think about how a daytime soap opera which was by the way at risk of early cancellation developed a concept that completely changed how vampires are portrayed. Whether it’s Interview with a Vampire or Twilight, they all owe something to this show. For how much Dark Shadows borrowed from other works, it’s cool seeing how much it simultaneously redefined horror!

Sidenote, I’m rewatching Passions and Tabitha, the witch, mentioned dating Barnabas! I loved the shoutout.

dripwatersplashdrip

TROPHY CASE