You see, it’s all a scam. They are not hiring good actors for interesting parts, but people they think will bring in ratings simply by name and face recognition alone. It's called, justifiably, stunt casting. And it's ruining many a daytime show.
My worst case scenario for stunt casting was Roger Howarth as Paul Ryan on ATWT. I wince even typing that. It was a horrible time for a Todd fangurl like myself. And it lasted FOREVER! It was like watching an old friend degrade himself for a new girl who isn't nearly as interesting as him but his lack of self esteem makes him stay. It was terrible as those morons on ATWT thought they could have their own Todd, but made him “Todd-lite”, and they were too stupid to get that “Todd” and “Lite” can't even exist in the same sentence.
But they wanted Todd fans and Howarth fans. They, like all daytime execs, were too stupid to know that they aren’t one and the same. You see, again, they didn’t understand the daytime audience and thought we were all a bunch of bumpkins who would follow anyone who shook a shiny light in our face. It failed and although the actor may have enjoyed himself, very few others did. I know I didn’t and I outwardly resented Howarth until last May, when he redeemed himself in my eyes. I was not a Howarth fan but a “Howarth as Todd” fan and a familiar face wouldn’t make me like that insipid sad sack, Paul Ryan. It was just, well, sad to see. But, that's over and we can banish that thought forever!! I love how I can do that. I’ve forgiven him and all’s right with the world….until I see how GH turns out. Until that time, all bets are off, Buddy!
Okay, I know that's Todd but did you really think I'd put Paul Ryan up here? Hell, no. And this scene cracks me up!!! "You wrote this headline which is why it sucks!" HA!! Okay, back on topic.
Yet, as can be expected, those daytime twits didn’t learn their lesson. The practice continues with the same dismal results. The worst offender currently- The Young and The Restless. They have perfected stunt casting to an artform and have reaped the benefits- a drop in ratings and the scorn of the audience. Good for you, Y&R, you’re on your way to cancellation like everyone else!! But be sure to degrade and demoralize more wonderful soap icons on your way out as, heaven forbid, they keep their dignity as their chosen field disappears forever. And make more soap fans resentful as you abuse the actors who played characters they once loved. Looks like a win-win for everyone, huh?
I’m not sure where to start with the disgusting display of wasted talent that Y&R currently has on staff. But it’s not a new thing for them. Last time, I mentioned some lovely examples like Maura West who was treated to play a recast of a character at least ten years older than her and then turned into a pathetic harpy and ended up dead in a park. That was nice. Take the star of ATWT and half of a beloved (super?)couple and make her shriek and whine and beg Nick, the King of the Adolescent Entitled Manboys, for more good lovin’. Oh, and then fire her. That’s the way to keep her fans around. Only not.
They tried to pull this crap with my beloved David Hayward when AMC was stupid enough to fire him briefly. They even named him “David” and married him off to Nicki, the matronly, aging, untalented, over the top, cheap ex-stripper who is Victor’s doormat, and then had him try to murder her. Yet Irizarry’s talent and charm still seeped through that idiotic character and I enjoyed him anyway!!! Besides the fact that he’s pretty to look at, I swear I saw David Hayward laughing at them all once in a while. It was like an inside joke.
I love him. And, yes, that's David Hayward, not David Whatever. Do you see a pattern here? He was still quite Hayward-esque underneath, so let's go with the real thing. With that loser Paul Ryan, I thought I saw Todd screaming to get out and wanted to put him out of his misery….but I digress.
Then there’s Tristan Rogers, the charming, wonderful, luscious Robert Scorpio from the GH’s heyday of quality- a distant memory, I know. Scorpio was the approachable and amusing James Bond-like character who made high school girls like me run home to watch him. Y&R did well with him. They made him a nasty conman and stuck him with “raspy” voiced Jill who looked as if she could be his mother. I like her and know she’s probably his age but her sex appeal left the building long ago. But, worse yet, have him be the bastard ex-husband of icon Genie Francis, his GH co-star, and have them both be one-dimensional, vapid characters who spend all their time with the untalented and even less interesting, Cain. Yeah, that’s respect.
But, wait. More great GH news for Y&R. Take Scotty Baldwin, the wonderful, wiley Kin Shriner, and stick him as a short term recast of Ted Shackleford- who should be parking Shriner’s car, IMO- and don’t even publicize it. Oh, and take Patch aka Stefan aka Stephen Nichols of legendary supercouple Patch and Kayla, and make him grow his hair and say “Darlin’” and then give him a bastard son played by one of the worst actors in daytime, before he cheats on his wife Ashley with Angie from AMC who’s now a drug addict………………..
I’m exhausted. It’s too bad to be believed.
I know there are a lot of great actors out there looking for work. I’m not saying people shouldn’t hire them. I know actors need to move on from characters we all know them as being. However, there’s “moving on” and there’s stunt casting. Let’s take a good example. Peter Bergman.
Bergman was one half of one of the most popular couples ever in daytime, Cliff and Nina on AMC. He was summarily fired for what appears to be no apparent reason, but he rebounded and became Jack Abbot on Y&R. Now, this happened over twenty years ago, I believe, and it was a recast and hiring a good actor. It wasn’t about getting “Cliff Warner”. It wasn’t about getting “Peter Bergman”. That may have been part of it. But, it was about getting an actor that fit the part and the character was well defined. It wasn’t about finding out you could get the actor and trying to “fit them in”. That fails. See the above Paul Ryan debacle. Damnit, I had to say that name again! Well, you know what I mean.
Y&R is not interested in finding the right people for parts. They want to find parts for people. And when you do that, the show suffers. It’s not like they said, “Hey, we need a great African American actor to be Jack’s physical therapist, a stupid part that is a throw away really”. No, it’s not that at all. It’s that they had Debbie Morgan and wanted to fit Darnell Williams onto the canvas so they could say they had Angie and Jesse from AMC. But they don’t. They have characters with their faces. And that’s it. And those characters suck and are beneath the caliber of the actors, IMO.
I get crazy when I see Darnell Williams. At least make him interesting, for God’s sake, he’s Jesse Fucking Hubbard!!! Why not bring on Michael E Knight to be a janitor at the facility so you can have Tad interact with Jesse and Cliff while you’re at it?
Wait, forget it. Please, I’m kidding. I don’t want to give them any ideas. And stay away from DePaiva!! I can't bear to see them ruin Blair. God help them if they do. And Howarth if he's next!! I'm already giving him the stink eye for this GH stuff. He's on probation as it is. Maybe he could be Paul Ryan in Genoa City.
I think I'll have to invest in some valium. Or maybe a good therapist. Or both?
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