Old Stars are New Again
Written 4/4/04 by Suzanne originally for
Bella Online
There's something strange going on right now with CBS soaps...last year
they were accused of "stealing" stars from ABC. This year they are hiring
all of these actors and actresses that starred in primetime soaps back in
the 70's and 80's!
It actually started last year when they hired Joan Collins (Dynasty) to
play Alex on Guiding Light (Unfortunately, she was let go) and Jack Wagner
(Melrose Place) for Bold & The Beautiful. It became a trend when Lorenzo
Lamas (Falcon Crest) was hired to play Hector on B&B. Then they brought in
Linda Grey (Dallas) to play Samantha's mother on the same show. Next, Joan
Van Ark was tagged to join the Y&R cast. It would be great to see other
favorites like Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, Victoria Principal, Ted
Shackelford, Donna Mills, Michelle Lee, Susan Sullivan, David Selby, Linda
Evans, Ken Kercheval, and Robert Foxworth. I suppose some of those people
consider themselves too "good" for daytime soaps, or they are busy
starring in Lifetime movies. I'd even settle for Nicolette Sheridan and
Steve Kanaly!
ABC did snag Kevin Dobson (Knots Landing) for OLTL, but they really didn't
make any story for him, so they let him go. Apparently only CBS knows how
to write for over-40 stars! Not a surprise, really, considering that NBC
and ABC only seem to know how to kill off their older actors, or put them
on recurring status until we never see them at all.
Perhaps in ten years, we'll start seeing the stars of Beverly Hills 90210
and The O.C.! That would be great.
Besides primetime stars, CBS has been bringing back some old favorites,
and that's been fun to watch. I enjoyed seeing Taylor's "ghost" on B&B
when Hunter Tylo returned and I'm really looking forward to seeing James
(Ian Buchanan) return in April for a few episodes. I don't know why more
shows don't bring back our favorites when they can (especially when it's
clear that they are sorely missed). ATWT ought to bring back Cass, Marley
and Donna...okay, they were Another World stars, but they did appear on
ATWT a few times. It's a real shame they killed off Jake so now there is
very little reason to bring the others back. Perhaps Molly can get some
visits from them?
I know that some people like to see "new faces", but I find comfort in
seeing familiar faces on my TV, especially my soaps. They don't all have
to be old, but I do like seeing actors that I like, and people with a few
lines on their faces (and acting experience on their resume), rather than
a bunch of young, fresh, faces that just look pretty but can't do much
else.
Rock on, old stars!
Page updated 12/27/11
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