Addison Speaks!: The Real Loss in Daytime: Trust and Faith in the Creative Teams

http://addisondewittspeaks.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-real-loss-in-daytime-trust-and.html

"The idea here is that you don't trust us and we don't trust you.  You don't trust the audience to stick with you as you write stories that are eloquent and insightful and interesting character studies. We don't trust you to write them for us."

This entry from Addison is REALLY good....too bad TPTB don't take the time to read them.

Time for Positivity! MUST HAPPEN . . . SUPPORT #GH

In reflecting on all of the changes and ups and downs we as soap fans have gone through - above all, isn't it time for some positive solidarity?


It's easy to complain, constantly, about something you don't like.  It's more of a challenge to put aside personal nitpicking and just SUPPORT.  And in this case, all soap lovers need to UNITE and stand behind GH right now, regardless of this, that and the other mobster.


This being said, I have been a GH watcher since about 1974 or 5.  I was just a child, watching with my mother after school.  The show was still black and white, however, when I actually first saw it, so I can't really put a date on it.  I do remember the first story line I saw, involving the death of Phil Brewer.  Yes.  I admit it.  


GH was the soap for me all the way through 1993.  After the demise of Duke Lavery (yes, total Anna and Duke FREAK and loved and shipped them, my only couple in my life that I ever did ship at that point), and watched AMC occasionally, and OLTL faithfully.  


Roger Howarth, my favorite actor of all time, period, was first in my eyesight when he was on Loving.  Following that, I loved and hated Todd Manning throughout the years, and some of the story I've only seen recently, as I took a break from regular soap watching until about 2006.  However, soaps never left my radar.  Life just took a different turn, and the time was just not there.


Recently, in finding Roger's work again via various sites, I got right back into the swing, especially when it was rumored that he would be back.  And then, the rollercoaster of losing, keeping, losing again, and keeping my biggest "shipcase" ever, Todd and Blair played by Roger Howarth and Kassie DePaiva.  To lose them, and their on-off, right-wrong, sick-perfect relationship was heartbreaking.


And here they are.  Back.  Living, again, on GH.  Thank you, GOD.  And here comes Finola Hughes, Tristan Rogers, Tony Geary.  Soap staples.  Veterans getting time.  Roger, Kassie, Kristen, and they are just the tip of the iceberg.  GH has a strong cast that just needed new life breathed into it - and all of us, all who are fans have to appreciate it and support.


So it seems things came full-circle but the real point is SAVING THE SHOW.  At this point, GH, with that brand name that everyone knows....even non-soap fans, is our last link to those fantastic, dramatic, fun and engrossing programs that are script-driven and acted, created, and painted by ARTISTS  who deserve a chance to shine.  The day I turn on ANY show called "THE REVOLUTION" or "THE CHEW" is the day I am forced to, possibly strapped to a chair and being electrocuted.  Otherwise, forget it.  


In fact, forget ABC as well, because for me, my all-time favorite network has forsaken ME, completely.  And, the network that I have loved, since I was a child, has forsaken the beauty of scripted television for the almighty dollar.  Not a pretty scenario considering that much of the wealth that ABC has gathered over time came from the Glory Days of their own soaps.


And Disney, don't get me started.  We grew up on Disney.  It was a family name everyone knew.  And...they have the nerve, after cancelling last Spring, to KEEP POSTERS of SUSAN LUCCI, and the names GH AND OLTL posted at their theme parks to bring in revenue.  Not grateful.  Not good business. And NOT a company I want to patronize anymore.


So, it seems to be ON US to SUPPORT GH any way we can.  Bashing it and the actors and stories and writers on Twitter or Facebook or websites or boards is DEFINITELY not going to make us win because eventually, there will be NOTHING LEFT to nitpick when GH is no more.


Rant over.  


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In the midst of this, I'll come right out and say it!

All is not lost.

Nope.  Can't be.

Info from sources:  RUMOR HAS IT we will supposedly get a statement from PP later today.  It's not over until it's over.  It may not be on time.  They are short a great amount of funds.  ABC seems to have done something not-so-classy, even if as small as not being gracious enough to allow the cast to stay put until it's organized or repaired (oh gee, shocker). 

I'll try and get anything I can to you all.  Until then, do not give up hope.  Hope is the thing that lasts until that last final word of the credits roll on Jan. 13.

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We Love Soaps TV Comment on Kassie's Emotional State Yesterday 11/8

It was reported by We Love Soaps TV at twitter that Kassie DePaiva cried during her interview yesterday....ugh, I can just feel the loss of this show in the pit of my gut.  It's almost over and done with now, and so painful.

I guess it's winding down.  It is interesting to me that after about 35 years of watching soaps, I am now connected to a totally different one than when I started.  GH was my soap for years.  OLTL was also a show I did watch regularly, but not as faithfully as GH, mostly because as a kid, we got home in time for GH not OLTL.  In summers, OLTL was also part of the routine.  I grew up with Viki, Joe, Wanda, Larry....and later, Clint, Bo, Asa, Nora, Todd, and Blair.

Can this be possible?  In scouring the old clips for some nostalgia, I watch as Dorian thinks she has breast cancer and spends a "final fling" in NY with Jason Webb (ah Jason) and touches his scar on his face (and he has long hair - sound familiar?); Cassie falling apart over the loss of William/River; Blair admitting to hitting Luna with her truck; so much more exists in the annals of fandom on that place called You Tube.  Hope I will be able to get all of the scenes I want to keep before something happens to remove them!

HOW is this show spiraling to its end without DORIAN at the helm?  Someone in the execs area is not all there.  Which brings me to the next fear - Prospect Park, the new show, and what it will or won't be, if it gets off the ground.  Let me be in denial here for a few more weeks.

Strange but true, in saying goodbye, you often miss something more than you thought.  Kassie, you're not alone when you cry about the demise of the show, and of possibly the demise of the LAST EXISTING SOAP SUPERCOUPLE on ABC DAYTIME that is Todd and Blair.  For us, if it IS the end of Todd Manning, and of Todd and Blair Manning, it's going to be extremely hard to let go.  The viewers love you all, too.

Well, I am feeling rather "most pathetic" right now, even considering how I'll feel come January.  Gotta get a move on.  It's only a TV show, right?

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What 5 Things Happened to Our Soaps? | Editorial

Someone asked this question on another site.  What happened to the soaps?  They were the hottest thing going in the 70s, 80s and 90s.  So....what was it?  A combination of things, clearly, but possibly these 5 things are the major cause of their decline.

1)  Fascination with RECASTS  
Instead of letting "sleeping dogs lie" and moving forward when an actor has to leave and "making due" the powers that be were stuck on recasts.....and this annoyed viewers and did cost some loss of loyalty.  Todd Manning.  Tom Hardy.  Jessica Buchanan.  Emily Quartermaine.  Greenlee Smythe.  Bianca Montgomery.  Lucky Spencer.  Sam Rappaport.  AJ Quartermaine.  Ross Rayburn.  The list goes on and on and on.  WHY?  Someone goes, just let them go, write an ending for the character, leave a door or two open, and reach for bigger, better, newer things.  I remember a time when recasts were temporary because someone was SICK or ill or had to leave for a bit.  NO ONE wants the originals replaced....especially in the cases where they were exceedingly popular or, especially, a part of a supercouple or important family.  When for the RIGHT reason, a recast can work (i.e. Erika Slezak, she's a recast) but in most cases, just annoys us viewers.


2)  Following story/plot ideas and not staying true to characters
Someone thinks of a cool idea, and then puts it on a character.  Problem:  Whoever this someone is, he or she did not always check to see if the character would act that way or choose that path.  In a lot of cases, there were really big problems with this.  Tony Jones, for example, was completely gutted DESTROYED as a character.  I still cannot and will not get over that one.  Kevin Buchanan STABS Todd in the shoulder when catatonic?  Cat Hickland's Lindsay was sacrificed a lot of times to be a killer for storyline purposes.  Troy McIver as well, goes nuts.  And what about Brody Lovette.....we know what is coming.


3)  "Phasing out" of supercouples
Probably my favorite topic.  Those who watch soaps should really own this.  Whenever I hear someone say that they don't care about couples on soaps, I ask myself, "why watch then?"  Soaps are definitely about romance and about love, relationships and couples.  Secretly, doesn't everyone care about SOME couple on SOME level, even if they do so covertly.  And, what happened was.....the shows stopped promoting the couples, and instead of giving them adversity that they could face together to keep them stronger, they felt splitting them apart was best.  WRONG.  We loved watching Anna and Duke go through that mob story.  Luke and Laura on the run.  Todd and Blair bickering and trying to make things work.  The concept of the supercouple is all but gone, and very few remain intact.  And, not every couple that someone makes a shortened squish name for is a supercouple, people.  There has to be magic, a huge following, and some kind of adverse conditions that they stick out together and become stronger from.  All but gone.


4)  Decline in "stay at home moms" and increased internet access.
More and more people ARE NOT HOME during the day.  More and more of them come home and use the internet to view the shows.  Ratings go down, and it "looks" like the audience does not care.  Not true at all.  However, no way to really track how many times I watch the cabin scenes with Todd and Blair over on You Tube.  During the 70s, my mom was not working.  She was home every day when I got there, watching the shows, and I watched too, even if I was just playing in the same room, or whatever.  In the 80s, Mom started working just part time, so she would still be home with us when we got home from school.  More General Hospital.  And, in summer, One Life to Live, too.  Now, no one in my family is home during the day.  My mom works every day (in her 70s), I work every day, my son is at school, etc.  No one can watch until night time, either on Soapnet, or to make it quicker and more painless, possibly the internet.


5)  Decreased spending, promotion, and epic stories/location shoots.
Let's just compare these things to, say Capricorn, or the Haunted Starr:  The Lefthanded Boy.  The Aztec Treasure.  The WSB Biscayne Islands and Mount Rushmore Capers.  Eterna.  The Iguazu Falls.  The Old West.  Las Vegas.  The Cleopatra Wedding in Central Park.   Need I say more?  The stories linked almost everyone in town and spanned full summers or whole semesters.  Promos.  Commercials during prime time.  Prime time episodes, in some cases.  The networks CARED to promote the shows, and it worked.  Even the MUSIC that the shows either had composed or integrated made the shows more impressive.  Cutbacks certainly did not help either, but the lack of investment at the top hurt the shows tremendously!  The whole desertion of the shows and core casts by the executive end of the soaps is what is causing the gradual demise, whether intentional or not, and we have to suffer through it.

Kudos to Prospect Park for at least TRYING to make this work.  Of course, the outcome cannot be predicted now, but at least there is some hope for the shows to continue and possibly rise to the top again.  Hopefully they will keep actors, couples, epic stories and appealing relationships at the forefront.


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Not Todd, you say?????

I beg to differ - and so does this vid.



STUNNING. Roger does it again! The self-hate is so thick, you can cut it with a knife. I can't get through this without tears. Perfection. A window into the soul or Mr. Manning in his later days. Emotionally bruised and battered, and rebruised and rebattered, he gives in to his self-loathing more and more as time goes on.

Gorgeous job by an equally gorgeous man.

Todd Manning, I cannot wait for your return!

Clip by cataz2626

The Best Laid Plans???

I woke up this morning to another snow day, grateful in a way, however, because of last evening's developments....walked down to the kitchen to get something to eat, and suddenly...could not stop laughing.

No, it's not time for the white coats, and no, I don't belong beside Marty Saybrooke in St. Anne's (though maybe I do at times). My laughter was upon the realization that over 6 months of plotting, searching, rumors, speculation and private detective work among everyone involved, the huge secret return is spoiled by - none other than the mouth of a 16 year old girl, via glorified texting online! Ha!

Of course, put this in perspective of my career, a middle school teacher, who, on a daily basis, deals with one or more of these things: cyberbullying escapades that result in hair-pulling contests, student phones going off in class, students texting in bathrooms, information flying through the student body via technology before we think we even have wind of it, and my own son spending time on tumblr instead of studying.

Now if the page is legit, imagine what the execs will think when they wake up this morning and see the internet abuzz with Roger's return - before they have even announced it? It makes you think a couple of ways. 1) THEY TOLD HER TO DO IT 2) "SHE IN TROUBLE!" 3) Technology is NOT reliable.

1) This is a leak, in intentional leak. Could there be ANY REASON TPTB wanted this leaked through a 16 year old's Formspring page? I am thinking about this long and hard. To me, it's definitely NOT the way they'd want this announced. The only thing it COULD be is an intentional leak so that they have someone to blame when he does not appear, so that ABC does not have to take the weight for misleading us, claiming it's not even the actress' page, or that her page was hijacked by some clever hackers. UNLESS, the show WANTED her to plant this info to calm the wars down, or for some other senseless reason....not the best route, especially if they cannot produce.

2) "SHE IN TROUBLE!" Like most teens I have worked with, and my son as well, there is a belief that they are hiding in the anonymity of the internet and that what they write is for them and their friends, and that others cannot and will not find it or use it to hurt them in any way. How appropriate this topic is in light of the problems in Egypt right now, the masses of cyberbullying incidents all over the country, the recent suicide of a middle schooler because of comments on Facebook, and the storyline on n one other than OLTL with Shane Morasco facing the same thing. A huge part of me believes this is her page, she did this, she's telling the truth, and she has just undone the best laid plans of all of these execs and spin doctors and even RH himself. There is NO ONE who can undo you like a teen, and if your a mom of one, or have been, you KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I MEAN. This could, if really true, etc, get her in some hot water at the show, couldn't it?  FOILED BY A 16 year old girl's inability to stop talking!!!

3) Technology fails, even in today's world. Her page IS HACKED and HAS BEEN ACTUALLY HIJACKED, and everything written there was put to work by an over-zealous fan just waiting to rule the soap world online.

Now don't misinterpret me.  This is NOT a column against the said teen.  AT all.  I give her tons of credit for managing to find and publish the answers we have been seeking for LITERALLY MONTHS!  This article is not to criticize as much as to praise her for doing something she unwittingly had no idea would have an impact on the world of grown women (admit it, fangurls) everywhere. I personally THANK HER for being honest, if she was, and can rest a little easier, maybe even get some of the laundry done and finish my grading for the week. I love my job, and the age group I work with.  I find teenagers to be interesting, funny, insightful, sweet, challenging, intelligent and on the cusp of social mores as they develop and change. I also find them able to UNDO THE BEST LAID PLANS, no matter what!  But, they make my job worthwhile, give me non-monetary rewards, and keep me on my toes, every day.

There you have it. I'd love to hear all your thoughts and points of view on this or any aspect of it. As always, I thank you all for participating and making TRTM what it is today, shout out especially to Juju who made all this possible with her tireless efforts to get Todd's REAL STORY online!


Formspring Account in question: http://www.formspring.me/kellisal/q/156028980661618011

The Demise of the Super Couple

From SOC:

I personally love this discussion and have written about it many times over the years. I will agree that within the last 7-10 years, the "supercouple" has faded, is basically non-existent, and is one of the reasons that soaps have declined.

In the past, a super couple WOULD LAST THROUGH ANYTHING, hence the name "super." Their love was heroic. Regardless of the adventure, threat, illness, they'd come out together in the end. Yes, they might leave each other, but not without some drastic reason (that usually threatened the other one). They would come back around....always.

I'd suggest that the closest thing to a super couple in recent years on OLTL was Todd and Blair when Roger was on the show. I am not even convinced that they were REALLY one, but they are close. His character was too messed up to REALLY complete the picture with any woman (as we expected from him). But, they're like the last little threads of that kind of thinking on soaps (per writers) - timeless heroic (and in their case, antiheroic) love - not people.

I think writers of the 80s and early 90s worked hard to BUILD RELATIONSHIPS, and the create drama around them. Today, they USE relationships/betrayal/breakups to create the drama (backward). It is almost as if the writers can't think of anything else!! They do this with friendships and families. We ARE missing the payoffs!

We want them together, regardless of the opposition. Regardless of the turmoil. They won't let go of each other, no matter what. Now, something goes wrong and one is off finding another one. The other is looking at a new guy without a shirt already. Ridiculous, tedious; nothing to hold on to and very little romance. Remember "love in the afternoon?"

Missing components:
*deeply developed, lasting relationships that endure time (not 3 to 5 months)
*two strong performers with undeniable chemistry that have won much MORE than 50% of the fans - more like 80% (why Natalie and John are probably NOT a S.C.)
*drama surrounding the couple that draws them together, not apart
*stable writing keeping characters true to themselves/each other
*respect for the actors, the roles they create, & keeping romances intact.

I miss those days A LOT. This was a good discussion to be involved in.

find it HERE

Todd should NEVER HIRE ME as a reporter....

And this little reporter GIVES UP.

Sniffle.

Every morning, I wake up and stretch, turn on my computer, and search search search for any tidbit of news about Roger, before I write my daily commentaries. I search high. I search low. I had all of my tech friends give me search advice. I downloaded special searches and devices. I've done everything from torrents to relevant searches. I've done it all. And today, I gave myself a real pat on the back for my first authentic find...I THOUGHT.

Come to find out this evening, after an hour researching, the site I posted the news from earlier regarding "The Bay Files" movie was posted on a Role Playing Game Site. WHY these people chose ROGER out of all actors to use in their "game" is beside me, but they did. He is not really involved in a film production at all. I have to retract, unlike SON. Let's hope THEY NEVER DO.

I am devastated that I got my friends here all excited for nothing. He's still missing in action, he's still "on the lam," as moose would say, and he's still unaccounted for. I can only offer an apology that I did not know before I posted it. Sigh. I am so upset, especially that my hopes are dashed, and that I caused you guys false hope in my error!

It does make me wonder, though, why someone who's playing this game, chooses Roger and an ATWT castmate. I guess he's more popular than we realize.

So sorry for my silliness. I guess my wishful thinking outweighed my tech savviness to REALLY RESEARCH IT. And sorry, but we are back to the drawing board with this Roger Howarth saga. So, this reporter cannot land a job at The Sun, I can see that for certain. Unless I do some special favors, I just don't think that Todd would EVER HIRE ME at this point. I resign from attempting to find Roger. Unless . . . what time does that train leave for NYC in the morning?????

So sorry!
Kim

AMC pulls off SURPRISE RETURN on AMC and . . . gives hope to us!

Guys, I just happened to watch Monday's AMC because of reports about the reactions to Zach's death, and did I get an eyeful! At the end of the episode, Vincent Izzary just appears. No spoilers, no warnings, just shows up. Fans did speculate, but nothing was revealed on boards or otherwise. I cheered literally. It made me want to watch AMC again, that is how good the episode was. There was David Hayward in all his glory....standing there! Cliff hanger of the year!

Which brings me to one little other point....it IS possible for OLTL to keep a return under wraps, if AMC did the same. It IS possible. It's something I never imagined would be, because of today's technology, but it IS POSSIBLE. So, the question remains - going on 4 months of waiting, we're just completing our third, do we continue to hope for the BIGGEST RETURN PULL-OFF IN SOAP HISTORY, or just give up and love our boy as he is in the annals of our memories?

This one is SURE to grab some responses from you guys out there in the peanut gallery!

Does he get any hotter than that?

You know it's pretty dismal when . . .

. . .the only search results you get for Roger are THIS BLOG. Not good.

The closest thing I could find today was someone posting that Roger was great but his ATWT scenes made no sense. Ok.

There is basically NOTHING OUT THERE. NOTHING.

It would be great if someone even confirmed that he moved to LA, then we could basically give up and just love him as he is immortalized in his digital kingdom thanks to Ju. The waiting and hoping is getting tiresome....and I am losing faith again. I guess only a visit to the chat box later on for cheering words from the rest of his groupies might help.

Sigh.

As much as I want this to go my way, in all honesty, if I were Roger, I would not come back to OLTL for the biggest reason of all - the writing. If I were in his shoes, I'd run from the current write staff as fast as I could. If Josh Griffith was coming along too, that might make a difference. But...I'm pretty sure that's out of the question! Maybe Roger just does not want to resurrect Our Man from the tomb after all. I'd respect that, I guess, but I would be disappointed.

What I really hope is that if he does not come back, it was that he changed his mind, or could not get the story he wants. I don't want it to be a ploy by ABC to boost ratings and get people hyped that he never was even involved in! That would really anger me.

I'd like to give you guys, the readers, more info, but it's simply not out there! But it's not for lack of trying, I search diligently, with all my techie knowledge, to find any stray crumb. Nada.

If I have to hang on to what I have of Todd Manning via Roger, I will, of course. I won't be any worse off than I was before. And even though it seems silly and dramatic, I'd always love what I see, because I already do. No matter how many times I rewatch his story, it seems new to me, because he's so amazing. I always pick up something that I have missed along the way, and it always brings me back to that astounding sense of creation: Todd's not a person, I remind myself, he's an invented soul, put there by a gifted and talented actor. That's a gift to my eyes and heart that just can't be undone, even if he doesn't ever grace my OLTL screen again.

So, Roger, I do want you back, but at the same time, I see why it might not be the best move for you. Whatever you're seeking for your future acting career, I hope works out perfectly! And I thank you for the chance to watch, love, hate, fear, adore and ultimately respect The Real Todd Manning!

What is going to happen to our soaps?

Lately, with all the complaining and ruckuss about RH and TSJ, and OLTL, and the loss of ATWT, I've been thinking more and more about the demise of soaps, as we know and love them. There are a few articles out there about this syndrome, namely The Death of Soaps (2007), The Future of Daytime Soaps (2008), in which OLTL is not even mentioned, 2009 Cancellation of ATWT Speaks to Soap Opera Future (2009) in which OLTL is named as the next casualty, and Is There Still a Future for Soap Operas? (2009), and I am sure this issue is not far from the heads of TPTB of the remaining shows. Something is happening, and it's happening relatively fast.

Of course, television marketing specialists and people such as this are contemplating, conjecturing and studying the ratings. I can answer it simply. Two things are at play. The first is the lack of character-driven, well-written stories with powerful acting at the hull. I don't care WHAT story they were shoving down our throats throughout my life as a soap viewer, we accepted it because it was written to work - it wasn't too superhero, because Tristan Rogers could carry it; we endured foolishness because Erika Slezak made everything seem real; we suspended disbelief because Roger Howarth made us love a demented nut; we accepted some terrible truths because Tony Geary and Genie Francis made it seem ok. CHARACTER-DRIVEN.

I don't remember saying, "I have to watch tomorrow because I want to see who has the Aztec Treasure." It was, "I have to watch tomorrow to see what happens to Frisco and Felicia" or "I can't wait to see Anna and Duke get married." Not the events, the people, created by the actors who really carry soaps, along with the writing, which has to be fantastic and more exciting than real life, but not too-far-gone. (I can't even think of what is too far gone, however, when you have an actress like Erika Slezak or Susan Lucci. Telling bear to leave because you're Erica Kane, or going back in time to the Old West come to mind.) Any way you look at it, It's a combination of great stories and even greater actors and actresses that YOU DON'T REPLACE on a whim. It's almost as if writers cannot be creative, so they latch on to the past for an easy sell.

The second issue I believe is the popularity of the internet. Why watch soaps when you can watch and be part of real life drama on Facebook? I am a FB user, and spend most of my FB time on games or posting to family members. But the trends online reflect this "real time" sort of excitement, where the players in the dramas are people you know. If the soaps don't have people you have come to know and love over time, then why bother when you can just watch the drama of real people you know???

Soaps should stop pandering to younger viewers. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO GET THEM. First, they have SCHOOL and WORK during soap hours, and when they get home, they are on the internet, using Oovoo, Facebook, My Space, You Tube and Formspring. They are not worried about Todd Manning. And who is? US. US the "older folks?" I cannot believe I am even saying it, but I'd say the people who really care about Soaps being preserved and about Todd Manning are not teens. And the trends are for kids to get more and more away from television and more and more into internet-based activities in free time. I can say this speaking from experience - I've seen the trend myself over the last few years in working with hundreds of teenagers as a teacher. Most kids don't even know what One Life to Live is. And, if TPTB keep going in the direction they have, no kids ever will know what it is, because it will be gone. The writers and producers need to respect the past of soaps, and get into the stories we love with our characters, to keep us happy, and not work so hard on getting new blood. My son got into OLTL because I was a long-time viewer and I wanted to watch again to see the return of Susan Haskell. Ok, he started to get into the Starr and Cole story, but he really got into John McBain and David Vickers' stories more. But BOTH OF US lost interest within a year and have given it up. There's no meat, the acting among the "featured players" is subpar, and the stories are just flat.

Soap creators, please try and realize that you are pissing us off. Every time you rewrite history, we're annoyed, not impressed, because you have some stupid reason or poor actor there to carry your story out. And STOP recasting our favorites, that really makes us angry and shows a lack of creativity and invention on your part. When your cast is made up of more than 50% new characters, or you relegate veterans to day-player status, you are NOT MAKING US HAPPY. You are making us aggravated. We don't turn on the shows to see new 20 year olds every week, we're sitting, watching, to be loyal to Viki, to Erika, to whomever we've grown to love over the years soaps have been part of our lives. Let's just say, if you all want soaps to become a thing of the past, you're certainly headed there.

Frustrated Fan

Yes, that's me.

Not a single word on the internet, anywhere, about RH and his possible return. Or even of his IMPOSSIBLE return. I'd take the answer, either way, at this point. It's been almost 2 whole months since we heard the first sprinkings of the rumor, and nothing. Zero. Zilchie.

Logic says, if he is NOT coming back, we'd definitely hear something from his camp. Wouldn't someone just make a statement saying he's not returning? And what about SON, who claim to still hold the exclusive that he is coming back? They claim they are not retracting their comment!

What about the way TSJ has been acting, fans have noticed a difference; I haven't because I don't watch while he's on....if I didn't know better, I'd say he is acting, according to reports, like an actor who is on the set with a major competitor....but, still, no reports. And, I don't want RH to step into the shoes that TSJ has created; he needs to take his back, and TSJ's character's history goes with him, not RH. That's what every single true RH and OLTL fan really wants, lets face it.

And what of the possibility that RH won't get his way and won't be able to go back to being Todd the REAL WAY - the long-haired, bitter, caustic, tortured, dangerous man we love so much? What about that? I don't want some watered-down Roger, or an a la Paul new character. I just want my Todd.

I want the character who could make you hate him and love him in the same second. I want the character who you could wince at and then laugh at the next moment. I want the character who bears his soul without even trying and commands the entire scene when he's there. And of course, I want the most gorgeous actor possible to play him, even when he TRIED to look ugly, he was hotter than hell.

I want my Todd. Straggly-haired, unkempt, poor-mannered, despicable, gorgeous Todd.