I started this thread to ask everyone what they thought were the biggest missed or wasted opportunities on any soap they've watched, be them past or present, canceled or still running. Missed or wasted opportunities include:

-potential of characters and/or actors
-potential couples that were squandered to focus on other storylines (many of which that were probably not really worth the time).
-potentially good storylines that were dropped or just not taken the right way

I'll start with one of mine:

GH's waste of the excellent Lane Davies. Wonderful, sensational actor. Had mad chemistry with Nancy Lee Grahn on Santa Barbara and seemed to have it with her again on GH. But they wasted him to focus too heavily on their mob-centric storylines.

Floor's open to anyone else.

The missed opportunity to give Jax and Alexis a real love story during the Mixed Marrieds SL. The actors wanted it and the audience wanted it - and many still do. Inexplicably, the show remained committed to the dull-as-dishwater Jax/Chloe romance.

I would also say that Rick Hearst is being terribly wasted right now on GH. The actor is talented, handsome and a multiple Emmy-winner. He's managed to turn a despicable character into someone worth watching, if not periodically rooting for. And yet he's generally marginalized and back-burnered, and when he is used, inevitably demonized. He ought to be one of their major leading men, or at least an interesting, complex villain who gets some actual story.

And finally, I second GH's waste of Lane Davies, one of the best actors on daytime ever.

I think getting rid of Stefan Cassadine was a huge waste, second only to forcing a Stefan/Katherine relationship due to Stephen Nichols and Mary Beth Evans's prior supercoupling as Steve & Kayla on Days. Bobbie and Stefan had a lot of chemistry, some dang interesting stuff, and Katherine's introduction was as awkward and ham-handed as the rest of her character's storylines.

Now, I'm essentially glad, because SN is back as Steve on Days (and MBE is back as Kayla), but Stefan could have been a great anchor on the GH canvas.

Another missed opportunity? Lorenzo as GH's new mob king who strips Sonny and Jason of their entire empire. Lorenzo as a fabulous romantic lead with a killer romantic storyline.

And a huge one -- the return of Robert Scorpio. I didn't watch GH back in the good ol' days, but I heard so much about him that I was very excited. I thought we'd get a great father-daughter reunion, and eventually Jason would turn spy and work for Robert, who would hate him (and continue to hate him). I kept hearing that rumor and got very excited. Instead, Robert is....where, exactly? Such a waste!

Wasted opportunity has got to go to Y&R for fumbling the reveal that Katharine did a baby switch with Jill's son many moons ago. With the history of these two contentious characters, powerhouses Jess Walton and Jeanne Cooper could've mined a mountain of dramatic gold with this storyline. Could you just imagine the hurt feelings, the guilt, the resentment, the revenge? Instead we got snarky comments over coffee in Crimson Lights. Lazy writing at its worst, what a waste.

A wasted opportunity so far on GH is Cooper Barrett having no apparent relationship to Brenda Barrett. Coop and Sonny have met, yet not even lip service has been paid to the fact that he shares a last name with Sonny's great love. And on GH: NS, there's a _______ Barrett who hasn't been dealt with since the first episode.

TFGH, as always.

The return of RF!Scorpio has to be the biggest wasted opportunity of the past few years on GH. Talk about a travesty.

I'm sooo bitter and off soaps these days, so this is right up my alley

Currentlyish:
-making EJ a rapist (Days)
-failing to build-up the Scotty/Logan paternity reveal, and screwing over the relationship that was beginning to build with Lulu (GH)
-the return of SN and MBE - completely squandered what should have been a build up to Steve remembering Kayla. Tbtb should have showed them falling in love all over again as their different/more mature selves (Days)

Back in the day:
-Not reuniting Blair and Todd after Blair had a stroke! Not reuniting Blair and Todd properly after RH came back the thrid time - that started off on the right foot, and then Skye and Max and the dead baby lie, and I was off the bandwagon.
-turning Jack into a baffoon and then firing MA (Days)
-Simon's 2 returns failing to advance the character, and ultimately ruining his lovestory with Katie (ATWT)
-having Sonny leave Brenda at the altar (GH)

I would go with that but from a different perspective - Zander and his back story - totally wasted in favor of yet more mob airtime.

Their father-son relationship was so impaired that redeeming it could have been good soapy stuff and could have been milked for a lot of drama. Combine that with Zander's already mother/son type of relationship with Alexis.

WORD. I'm so bitter about this, I don't even know where to start. I too didn't see him back in the day (not being born until the late 80s), but my mother use to watch back then and she talked about how great he was and I remember Luke, Robin, Mac, and others mentioning him every once in a while on the show. And then when Anna came back on AMC, I remember reading a lot about him in soap mags as well. So the point is, in my mind there was a huge build up for Robert Scorpio. I loved that he came back, I loved every scene he was in. I loved his interaction with Luke, Robin, and Tracy. And then we got Holly and Anna back too! I was over the moon! The potential that GH had with these actors last year was fantastic! And what happens...??!?! NOTHING!!! Probably the biggest missed or wasted opportunity I've seen on a soap in recent memory.

Speaking of GH (the only soap I can't seem to escape from, I'm afraid I'll always watch it no matter how bad it gets), other actors that should be used more (or given better material) are Rick Hearst (also mentioned earlier in this thread), the actress who plays LuLu (we don't need Carly Jr), and of course the Quartermaine's (did I even spell their name right?). I think the mob-Sonny-Jason-Carly-slant that GH has been on for the last eight or ten years is the root cause on that show for all its missed/wasted opportunities.

All of the Quartermaines have been wasted in the past eight-ten years. No doubt. My biggie? What a great opportunity GH had by pairing JE/TG, the two best actors on GH ever, IMO. So many great things could have and still could come of this pairing, yet mainly what we've gotten is silly slapstick. I only have to see their good stuff and witness how good it is, to know how good they could be. I'd love to see them get one meaty SL together before they leave GH for good. I have no doubt it'd be worth the wait. And honestly? I don't care about much of anything else. Oh, and killing off Alan.
Eeee-diots.

Aaron Spelling bringing Jamie Luner into Melrose Place but *not* in character as Peyton Richards from Savannah. The latter show ended with a fair amount of resolution and made it more than wide open for her character to want to leave town and start anew. Alas...

On the same token, Spelling not giving Marcia Cross the payday she wanted to resurrect Kimberly for MP's final episode. Given the writing in the final season, it probably would've been handled in a lame way, but any sign of Marcia as Kim would've been better than what we ended up with.

For me:

Days
- Steve and Kayla - I agree...Steve and Kayla are my IT couple, but I think their reunion should have included a slow revisit and buildup of their love for each other, capitalizing on the fantastic chemistry they still have and to help new viewers buy into the relationship...
- Bringing back characters and then doing nothing with them for weeks (Anna, Adrienne)
- Bringing Adrienne back without Justin...
- Not having either Shawn or Belle die out in the pacific ocean...
- Brady-Dimera feud/vendetta - failing to include all the members of the older set in this and trying to prop up an EJ/Sami pairing through Santeen...all of this over a woman? Please. Sitting around reading a bunch of letters? Please.

GH
- I hate everything Spencer, so the pairing of Stefan and Katherine was great for me...I think the sacrificing of any of Stefan Cassadine's pairings for the Laura Spencer was a joke.
- "The Kayla Bradying" of Katherine's character when they paired her up with Stefan...the tigress lost her claws during this storyline...Katherine was never a "good girl"...she and Stefan could have been amazing as a ruthless pair

NBC
- Getting rid of both AW and SB...Morons.

AMC (I think..)
- The unabortion

This is so on point. As Lexie, Lunar simply...drifted across the Melrose landscape and never quite found her footing for me. She was paired with a few of the male leads, but I never saw chemistry with any of them -- which is criminal because if nothing else, Lunar can ooze sex appeal. To me, Lexie had no reason for being and I cared not a whit about her background. But Peyton Richards was a character I enjoyed and even empathized with despite her crazy and machinations. She would definitely have been a better fit.

I'm still bitter about this. It's like they just could NOT have Jax NOT be with a "cute, young, hot thang". To this day, watching them as friends even sets off sparks.

One of my long standing wasted opp moments is the relationship with Bobbie and Stefan. I really think that Bobbie who has always been unlucky in love could have been the next "Helena Cassadine". While it was nice to see Bobbie walk out on Stefan with her dignity I would have much preferred Bobbie grow bitter and angry over Stefan's emotional abuse and using her to get back at Laura. She had a mothering relationship with Nikolas that could have presented even more tension as she instantly became the mother he never had in Laura. She could have refused to grant Stefan a divorce without letting out all the dirty Cassadine secrets so she would have remained a member of the Cassadine clan using the name and money to wreak havoc on all she felt crossed her. Regularly butting heads with Stefan and being a loving, controlling mother to Lucas and Nikolas.

I'll go further and say that it was a huge wasted opportunity to cut Bobbie and Stefan's romance short to facilitate an attempt to exploit SN/MBE chemistry from their DOOL days. I thought Stefan and Bobbie had great chemistry and it was a far more interesting relationship for both of them than the Stefan/Katherine nonsense. I would have liked to see a real love story with all kinds of shades of gray for them. Plus, as you say, it provided an opportunity to really develop Bobbie as a powerful matriarch. Stefan/Bobbie could have had a great, ongoing relationship that veered between function and dysfunction.

And I can't believe I didn't bring up Robert Scorpio's return. It was so painful, I blocked it out. To have Holly and Robert and Anna and Luke all on the show at the same time and have it turn out so badly is appalling. If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have believed it could be done.

ETA, this will be unpopular, but sacrificing any real exploration of the Alexis/Sonny romance in order to pacify the rabid Carly/Sonny fanbase was a miscalculation from which, IMO, the show is still suffering. Sonny and Alexis had an interesting friendship. I would have been happy had they never consummated it - I enjoyed the undercurrent of sexual tension (though not when they started writing Alexis as fluttery and giggly around Sonny), but didn't think it necessarily had to be acted upon. However, unlike many, I didn't mind the idea of them becoming lovers, had the show really committed to exploring what that would mean. I don't think they could have lasted, but I would have preferred to see their friendship survive. I don't know why the show seems so determined to keep them from really connecting - MB works better with NLG than most of his partners, and the relationship is complex and, when written properly, dynamic and interesting. Seems a big waste.

Throw in Scotty and Rick in wasted opportunities. Having the former in control of Laura's fate and the latter as a cheater willing to turn his stepdaughter's mind into mush damaged both characters. Also, not bringing back Kevin and Lucy from PC.

The biggest blunder ever was by GH with the return of Rf!S. A character that has been floved since his first appearance on GH is basically thrown under the bus, and made to look like a dottering fool.

Shame on GH for using him (and Emma Samms and GF) as a pathetic ratings ploy.

Killing off John Durant. He was Carly's father, one of Bobbie's John's, had smokin' chemistry with Alexis, the list of wasted opportunities goes on and on. As always, the GH PTB introduced a character with promise and then totally ran out of ideas for him.

I can't believe there were no 'ideas' for using Durant [just as it's hard to believe that they couldn't come up with a single idea for using Cameron on the same show]; I tend to believe that if it didn't involve the sanctity of Jason or the hot sex appeal of Sonny, the writers weren't interested in developing such ideas.

The wasted opportunities on GH because of Bob Guza's obsession with all things mobular are legion.

1. Wasting the good FOJs. Snark about riding Jill Faren Phelps' coattails, but Lane Davies, Jensen Buchanen and A Martinez are much more compelling actors than the frontburners we have now (blink-nod-pass turd-blink Steve Burton leading the way). Robin Christopher languishes, as her character Skye is unconnected and directionless. At least Tim Gibbs, Kale Brown or Mark Derwin aren't on the radar.

2. Blowing the return of Robert Scorpio, Holly Sutton and Anna Devane. Robert had to be a deadbeat dad so Robin would turn on him and praise Sonny and Jason. Holly was a psycho who would risk her beloved former stepdaughter dying in order to make money. Anna and Robert were turned into shrill Bickersons. Robert's brother, Mac, the police commissioner, was a non-factor. Guza couldn't let Robert and Luke use their wits and skill, because he had to have his precious Borg Jason and shrieking mob whore Carly save the day. The whole MonkeyFlu storyline was Guza's temper tantrum that his pets will never be as interesting, compelling or beloved as Gloria Monty's creations.

3. Wasting other talent. Corbin Bernsen rocked as Durant. But he had to be made OMG TEH EVOL because Bernsen's talent blew overacting ham Maurice Benard and bland Steve Burton out of the water. Guza didn't like his favorites being upstaged.

4. The shoving of Genie Francis/Laura out of the show. It could have been written that Laura decided to move to New York and run Deception, and she and Luke were going to do a long-distance thing. That way, GF could have been written in as a guest star. Instead, because of the vicious vindictiveness of Guza, Laura was sent cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs and the Spencer family was trashed. Luke became a drunken, nasty deadbeat Dad. Lucky became a moron. Lulu became ShrewLu. Lesley and Bobbie were shoved into the seniors closet. Carly only remembers her Spencer roots when it's convenient for her. Lucas came out of the closet, and went right back in never to be seen again.

5. One of the great soap families - the Quartermaines - was decimated by Guza's need for his mob pets to reign supreme. The Qs should have been a vigorous, multi-generational core family from patriarch Edward down to next-generation characters such as Brooke Lynn and Michael. Instead, Quartermaine heir AJ was destroyed to make us believe Sonny and Carly are actually good parents (still not buying it). Ned was shoved aside so Alexis could fall for Sonny. Lila was turned from a strong, principled matriarch to a Q-bashing mob cheerleader. Edward was turned into a buffoon because he didn't toe the "good mobsters" line. Justus was murdered because GH can't write for black people. Emily betrays her oldest friend, Lucky, to prop up murdering thug Jason. Alan was murdered to make room for mob-related newbies like Jerry, Coop and Spumoni.

GH: Not pairing Luke Spencer with Alexis Davis together and absolutely balls to the walls going for it. To this day, when they share a scene and {they are sparking FROM HERE TO KINGDOM COME}, I cry a little on the inside. Missed opportunity is beyond an understatement for this pairing.
GH: RKK as Stavros. I enjoy this guy and wish he were still on this show. Speaking of...

AW: Bringing RKK back as Bobby F'ing Reno. Him...on THAT show. They blew it.

WORDY MCWORD. I still hold out hope that someday...someday.

Shortly after the death of Michael Hudson on AW, Donna Love (the woman he left behind) had several deep conversations (laced with witty barbs, of course) with Cass Winthrop, her attorney/longtime friend who had experienced the death of his wife a few years before. They had been around Bay City for decades. They played well off one another, comically as well as romantically, and the common bond of having recently lost the love of their life made the scenes even more revelatory. Stephen Schnetzer and Anna Stuart have always been fabulous to watch, and it appeared that the writers had finally realized that they could be even better to watch together! But in true bonehead fashion, the writers decided it would be better to pair Cass with Lila Roberts, a woman fifteen (twenty?) years younger, and leave Donna as the story-less 'widow' hopelessly in the orbit of her daughters. The implication was that Cass should not be paired with someone as 'old' as Donna, even though they were the same age.

And don't even get me started about JFP breaking up Donna and Matthew five years earlier.

GL chose the easy way out by forgoing the obvious "Talented Mr. Ripley" storyline with Sandy/Jonathan/Tammy --- TP had equal-opportunity sexual chem with guys AND girls and there was sooo much HoYay in Sandy/Jonathan scenes. We never "got" why Sandy decided to pose as Jonathan and take over his life. I liked to fanwank that he was secretly in love with Jonathan at boarding school, got rejected, obsessed, and decided to be one with Jonathan by becoming Jonathan. Oh well...

GH owns this thread but I'll spread the blame around:

Y&R: Not keeping Victoria Rowell. Her presence on the show, and the fireball that is Dru, provided a perfect foil to the powerhouse that is Phyllis. After Victor/Jack, the Phyllis/Dru rivalry was the best hate/hate relationship on the show. HUGE MISTAKE! Y&R will pay for this for a long time.

DOOL: JKJ (Phillip) is talented, gorgeous and has a huge fanbase. He is 1/2 of a huge supercouple waiting to happen. Why must the show make Phillip so dark? And why aren't they working like mad to find the right girl for him? Youth is not being served.

ATWT: A failure to execute the bunt, the stolen base, the pitch out -- in other words, the basics! Families don't connect, everyone is in a silo, the sets look cheap, longstanding relationships are forgotten. The elements are there for a great soap but big ideas, big chemistry and big couples can't work if the show fails to do the little things. Carly has cancer. Her sisters, the Snyders, the whole damn town should be affected. But it's no biggie. Rosanna returned from a coma. And no one even noticed. Disgraceful.

AMC: The return of Dixie. No great romance for Binks.

GH:
Historical
Wasting Steven Nichols and Stefan/Bobbie thrown aside for Stefan/Kat. Wasted returns of Robert, Anna, Holly. The zillion storylines for many characters that were tanked because of an Mary Sueish obsession with all things Carly/Jason/Sonny. Failure to pair Alexis with Jax or Luke.
Current
Failure to capitalize on Rick Hearst's tremendous talent. Failure to throw Robin & Patrick into the Liason/Lusam quad and instead throwing in Leyla (a character universally loathed) as an obstacle. Failure to use Tracey, Luke, Scott in their own storyline. Failure to give any romance a real chance and instead rushing through everything. Failure to launch, period.

I'll throw OLTL a compliment. For a long-time the show failed to capitalize on the popularity of two of their most popular couples (T&B and M&M). Having the couples square off over a baby is brilliant and makes one realize how stupid the previous regimes were. When you have a huge couple (like T&B or M&M), then don't frustrate and annoy the fans by failing to use them.

You had me at Stefan/Bobbie, but I'm taking a separate path here. I'm happy Robin avoided falling back into the Jason trap, and I'm glad she has nothing to do with that nonsense storyline.

Patrick and Robin are grounded in a non-criminal world, where the morals aren't upside down. I'm an old Jasam fan, so I can handle that world well enough, but I like that Robin didn't backslide. I don't think she could ever handle that life and I'm glad she moved on.


And I'm right back with you.

ATWT killing off Jennifer Stewart Ryan (and to compound that, never playing the effects onscreen - for example Barbara was never told her granddaughter died, Paul/Babs or Emily/Babs ever said a word about it). That kid had the soapiest of soap genes.

Father - Paul Ryan
Mother - Emily Stewart
Grandmothers - Barbara Ryan and Susan Stewart
Grandfather - James Stenbeck
Half Sister - Allison Stewart
Uncle - Will Munson

With all of the history between Paul, Emily, Barbara, James, and then throwing in Susan and Will/Ali, it could have been a lot of fun. Plus, that character's potential in the future would have been amazing.

Ms. Chicklet,is that true about Corbin's John Durant? Because I always wondered why he was killed so viciously and with no regard from his daughter and Bobbie. They did it to him just like they did to Justus Ward which was totally Borgy's fault and his punk-ass did not shed one tear for being responsible for getting his cousin killed. No matter what the characters of these two for the past 8 years has so not been worth it and I wish they would go pronto.

As a Passions viewer, I know one of the things that is most counted as a huge miss on the part of JERk was Therox. Letting the great chemistry of Justin and Lindsay Hartley as Fox and Theresa, go to waste so he could continue flogging the dead horse that was and still is ET, was a colossal mistake.

Therox was the first coupling on the show since the ones established in it's inception, that actually excited viewers. The couple caught everyone ...including the producers I'm sure... completely by surprise with how fast it's fanbase grew, beating out all the other established couplings in popularity. Even after Therox were ripped apart and Theresa and Fox were barely seen on screen together, Therox was still winning poll contests for best couple.

A genuine friendship that had started to blossom naturally into a real romantic relationship? Unheard of on shows that JERk heads. Until Theresa and Fox and now Luis and Fancy.

Another wasted opportunity was Jared Casey. That character could have been so much more. His coupling with Theresa could have been so much more, but it just wasn't. For me it was a combination of the actor and JERk's crappy writing that lost my interest. Reilly as always ruined any hope Theresa had of moving on with her life sans Ethan by throwing her right back in there.

And finally the biggest wasted opportunity was the past eight years. Passions could have been so much better, but it just wasn't. Reilly can sometimes be good at coming up with a good idea, but his follow through is sorely lacking.

Also on AMC wasted opportunity was how the writers missed at least trying out Aidan and Kendall. On GH, I agree with one of the posters before me that the writers really jacked up the storyline of Sonny and Alexis. Honestly watching back then was one of my favorite times on the show ever. I loved the two together, but alas, they weren't meant to be. Also Gia Campbell will always remain one of my favorite characters from GH. The chemistry Marisa and Clifton had was just amazing.

As a former viewer of that show (I don't have DirecTV), I'll take that one and raise you several others. There were so many characters languishing around doing nothing that they could've done things with.

Sam's brother, Hank Bennett, could've been a great character instead of just being Luis's "sidekick." Since Ethan's true love was so obviously Theresa, and he was clearly not gonna love Gwen more than he loved her, they could've put Gwen with Hank. Luis and Sheridan's best friends with each other? I'd have had no problem with that.

Or, hey, there was a wide plethora of men who would've been better for Gwen than friggin' Ethan. When the Fox/Theresa pairing didn't work out, they could've tried Fox and Gwen. While they were being held captive with Katherine in Alistair's secret island base, or wherever, I actually saw a bit of chemistry between Justin Hartley and Liza Huber. That could've been excellent, seeing Ethan's reaction to his half-brother being interested in his (ex-)wife, or even vice versa. Or when Sheridan was staying with Chris, they could've tried Gwen with Luis. Yeah, the "right" woman being jealous of her best friend dating the love of her life has been done a lot on soaps, but at least it would've been an old-fashioned soap route to take. Or hell, she could've been placed with Jared Casey instead of Theresa being with him.

When Ivy turned out to be behind the David Hastings thing, I really wanted JERk to go the route of her trying to break up Sam and Grace, but instead fall for her co-conspirator. Justin Carroll and Kim Johnston Ulrich had mad spark and chemistry as co-conspirators in that storyline.

John Hastings was wasted, as well. I think they could've done a bit more with him besides just make him Ivy's pawn. Anyone who watched Passions remember Alisa Reyes's Sydney "Syd" Valentine, whom Chad and Whitney met in the L.A. storyline? She could've followed them back to Harmony and met John, who needed some spice in his life. I think they could've made a fine couple.

And last but not least, Kyrie Maezumi's Maya Chinn. Despite her acting, I thought she had potential to keep around, even after the Vendetta storyline. I mean, I wasn't digging Adrian Bellani's Miguel with Heidi Mueller's Kay or Brandi Burkhardt's Siren. A Miguel/Maya pairing would've been fine by me. I don't think any soap's ever done a Latino/Asian pairing before, so that would've been new, too.

Sorry if this seemed so long, but as a former Passions viewer, I REALLY needed to air my grievances here.

Going back to Stefan Cassadine, I think the biggest wasted opportunity was making Alexis Davis his sister. They had sizzling chemistry, more than any other characters they were romantically linked. When they were introduced, we believed that they were cousins (not knowing how many times removed) and we saw how close they were. It didn't matter that they were family because the new Cassadines were gothic, creepy, sexy, and completely different than anything on GH. Hell, even by making them siblings, I still would not have been opposed to them hooking up because they were they were that interesting to watch.

I know this might not be that popular of an opinion but my poor beaten CarLo loving heart won't allow me to keep quiet. I think I've never forgiven GH for not allowing the smoking chemistry between TB and TK a real chance to take off. Oh what could have been! But no, CarLo was sacrificed on the midget mobster's altar because MB couldn't make any other Sonny pairing work. ARG! And the saddest part of it all is that MB and TB didn't really have any chem to begin with. And I say this as a former Carson shipper. I think I was just so caught up in the original recipe Carson that I never acknowledged the fact. Yet every time any other man like Zander, Jax, or Rick came near TB's Carly the sparks would fly and I would be all "Sonny, who?".

Even though I knew she became one of the most hated characters on GH, Courtney and AJ were just great together in the begining. The way she used to defend him was beautiful. The chemistry was fantastic. The story of him innititally using her as a way to stick it to Sonny, but then falling in love with her was so soapy that it could cut grease. Why the broke them up for Journey I'll never understand. I mean I know why(Jason=gift from above), but I'll never trully understand.

The whole Lily reveal on Y&R was handled terribly. It was one of those long held secrets that Y&R used to do so well that you just knew when it finally came tumbling out of the closet it was gonna be good. Except Malcom was nowhere to be seen for the aftermath. Stupid, stupid show!

Y&R:
- Replacing the REAL Lily (Davetta Sherwood) with VALLEY GIRL Lily (CK). DSLily made much more sense because she complemented Dru whereas CKLily is so unlike her parents.

GH:
-Still waiting on Alexia and Jax to make it happen...
-Where is Robert Scorpio and why didn't Anna kick Jerry's ass for shooting her child?
-Lulu as NuCarly

I'm going to go with the most wasted:
The entire show of PASSIONS.
It started off with so much potential and boasts the most diverse cast (who are ALL actually given storylines) and then? NOTHING. This show could have been great but they kept horrible actors for far too long and the writings stays uneven and downright absurd - even for a soap opera. It's like the little train that could...if it had cared to.

Wasting the actor who played Alcazar - Ted King. I have no f*ckin idea why MB has so much clout or is so popular but talk about overrated. And to bury Ted King behind MB egotistical nonsense was ridiculous.

Current waste is Jesse Sofer on ATWT. JS has proven he can more than hold his own with Jen's Gwen. I hate to see him become nothing more than a prop.

Does the WWE qualify under this topic since it is in this forum? Vince not spending the money and bringing in Hogan, Nash, Hall, Flair, Goldberg and the Steiners with the rest of WCW in 2001 is his biggest mistake. Hogan-Austin, Goldberg-Rock, Goldberg-HHH, Hogan-Rock, Flair-HHH, Flair-Rock, Taker against Hogan or Goldberg, Taker-Kane vs. Outsiders would make enough money to keep WWE flush in cash for years.
If not, I still maintain that trying to revive Cord-Tina on OLTL after Tina threw him over for Cain Rogan, because Michael Malone had to punish Kassie DePaiva for getting involved with her (then-future) husband BTS by pairing her with Roger Howarth, who never seemed to acknowledge her in his rare interviews and his character of Todd.

From the little I've seen of Passions, I'd say casting John Reilly as Alistair Crane and then writing him as a one-dimensional indestructible villain whose motivations don't really make any sense is a huge waste. JR is a wonderful, charismatic actor. When I heard he was marrying Theresa I tuned in briefly because I figured we'd get some dimensions - maybe he'd have genuine feelings for her, or something to maximize JR's appeal while still keeping Alistair dark - but I quickly turned it off again after the multiple marital rapes. With JR in the role, Alistair ought to be a fascinating, charming villain, one who is frightening but compelling. Instead, he's just a cartoon.

Oh My Fucking God I can't stant CK's Lily. Daniel and Cain are both too good for that harpy. You know a character/actor is bad when you are rooting for Amber to take her man.



The show seems far more obsessed with Shawn. I have never liked either incarnation of the character because neither actor very good looking or charismatic like JKJ whom I think has far more chemistry with Martha Madison than Brandon Beemer. The other actress besides Martha that I think he might have good chemistry with if tested would be Rachel Melvin's Chelsea. I think she is a very talented and charismatic actress in her own right despite the fact her character is written poorly and she often has to act in scenes with actors who are below her in skill. The only bad thing about a Phillip/Chelsea pairing, other than the fact that they are related which the show can work around(GL did), is that I really like Chelsea with Nick and Phillip with Belle.

On "AMC," destroying the character (growth) of Janet Dillon and killing off Trevor, as well as (echoing earlier comments) the stupid death of Dixie. Why bother bringing Cady McClain back from an off-screen death, just to rub the salt in the wound with an on-screen death? Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Of course, the worst thing the show has done in recent years was the letting go of Julia Barr as Brooke with little to no explanation given.

I'm more upset over the constant propping of Babe and Ryan over the pst 4 or 5 years like they are morally superior to everyone and can do whatever they want without consequence. At least Babe can admit when she did something wrong like keeping her best friend Bianca's baby but Ryan seems incapable of doing that. Him or his "reformed" murderer/wife beater/stalker brother who is living in his victim's house. And that is the biggest WTF in the history of that show. Why would Julia let Jonathan live in Edmund's house and not even acknowledge once since he moved in what he did to Edmund? Oh, I'm sorry the tumor made him do it.

I know this is off topic but please YellowBird, explain any dirt behind the scenes at the time in reagrds to MB not liking TB's Carly with TK's Alcazar. I need the dirty details please.

The interesting thing was that Malone unexpectedly struck gold with the Blair/Todd pairing. The real missed opportunity was is not having a full-fledged Cord/Blair/Todd triangle. Think about it. Cord, the good guy who sees the good in her when no one else does, encourages her to be a better person and teaches her that she doesn't have to scheme and lie to get what she wants, and Todd, the bad guy who doesn't judge her and lets her be who she is.

I will not pretend to have definitive proof. And I'm not saying that MB specifically told tptb to put down TK. But through board gossip and a few fan events I basically came away with MB having a lot of say in his storylines(possibly the show too). For example, that Emily/Sonny hookup that crashed and burned.

And don't certain actors, like ME (OLTL), have stipulations in their contracts that they have to appear X amount of times?

Again, I don't KNOW anything for sure. But TK could act circles around MB and yet there is MB - front and center - sucking the life out GH with his string of crappy romances and his fake ass mob. They got TK away from Carly and still TK's storylines get hacked, cut, or not done at all. WTF?

Lastly, Sonny doesn't push whores, drugs or guns. So what the fuck makes him a mobster?? Is he selling furniture off the back of a truck?? *ahem* I digress...

OR I could just have a serious hate on for MB/Sonny/GH thus making me bias.

Finally, I've found a person who's in agreement with me! I watched Janet from Another Planet from 1993-2000 and loved the reformed crowbar killer, I never felt like Janet had to turn into June Cleaver but I enjoyed her growth and her friendships with Brooke, Jack, and Erica... and the romance of Janet and Trevor, Sniff, Sniff!

When I heard Kate Collins was coming back, I knew MMT (who'd made it no secret she hated reformed Janet, upon her return in 1998) would turn her back in the bat shit crazy bitch she was back in the day... but damn if she didn't surprise me, She turned me into a life long hater of AMC, with the murder of Trevor "Porkchop" Dillon and at the hand of Janet, who adored the old grizzly bear!

I have nothing against Kate Collins as an actress... I just loved Robin Mattson as Janet Green Dillon. I think it's time to dust off my edit tapes and relive the old days.

I agree that Robin Mattson did a wonderful job making Janet Green a viable member of Pine Valley society, which makes that last storyline such a waste. Janet Green the psycho is such a short shelf life character.

I'm going to call General Hospital: Night Shift a massive wasted opportunity. It could have been used to develop new characters, to allow underused GH characters to shine, and to separate itself from the mob world, but the inclusion of Jason into the medical setting unbalanced the whole premise. Jason was the thing that was not like the other, the thing that did not belong. It destroyed the continuity of regular GH, and the shoehorning of NS into GH was anything but well-done.

What a waste.

We had a gangbanger s/l. But your point holds.

I still can't understand why Guza made such a point of putting GH: NS into an AU only to (unsuccessfully) shove it back into OG GH. The entire experiment is so WTF.

Oh, preach. I was stunned when TPTB just obliterated that couple. They were fabulous, and there was so much soapy potential there. At the time, I was actually naive enough to believe that the whole stalking thing was just a blip and that they wouldn't really go through with Jason/Courtney. It made so much more sense to me to keep AJ/Courtney together and cash in on Liz/Jason. I HATED Liz/Jason, but even I could admit that they were popular. I think it was then that it really sunk in that the people in charge of GH are truly, truly clueless morons.

I only watch Passions, so:

• Screwing up the timeline (Katherine "died" before Ethan was born in 1975, yet she ran off with Martin after Paloma was born in 1985-ish? Nothing makes sense as a result, time-wise).
• Throwing away Fox and Kay to put Kay back with Miguel.
• Neutering, and then killing off, Fox. He was, like, the only male character on the show to possess a brain.
• Having the GET triangle go on for EIGHT FREAKING YEARS, and not even giving Gwen another love interest besides Ethan. Both NZ and LH have had chemistry with so many different male characters - Hank, Luis, Fox, Julian - yet the writers insist on continuing the triangle from Hell.
• Ignoring the chemistry between Ben Masters and Kim Johnston Ulrich in order to throw Julian back with Eve and Ivy back with Sam.
• Pretty, aka Narcissistic Bitch. Instead of introducing another strong, yet wounded heroine, Pretty sits around and bitches about the scar that you can't even see when her hair's down. Please.
• TC's shed. Enough said.
• Not killing off Ethan during the shirtless coma of 2005. Now THAT would have been riveting and shocking; it would have ended the never-ending GET triangle, and it would have sent shockwaves through Harmony, considering that Ethan's related to everyone.

Thank you YellowBird, I know that I completely agree with your assessment of this situation. MB even though I believe he thinks he can act, does not know how because that would involve some kind of DIRECTION, and I don't think he can do that too well. I can accuse more actors on TFGH of this but we are talking about him. I loved and miss Ted King and when he left, I kind of did to. Ted in his scenes with MB made MB look so childish and unprofessional to me.Ted brought IT, and when he left took IT with him. IMHO. yes miles definitely do vary on that one.
As far as what the Gummi bear Mob does illegally, My constant vote is gay porn and fetish underwear.

Thank you Tiago5. Is it petty that I feel validated that someone else shares my beliefs?

OLTL Squandering the greatness that could have been Kevin & Kelly. Dan Gauthier & Heather Tom had the kind of chemistry you can't write, and incredible talent to spare. Distroying two of the best characters with stepson sex, and then killing off an important, next-generation Buchanan. KeKe, with all their history, and links to everyone, had the most possiblity of being the center of the show. Those two could have carried it another 10 years.