Characters leaving, that nearly destroyed a series

tommie

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Nobody cared that she was killed, and that killed the story - and almost the entire show.

I counter you with:

cassie-yates-gallery-february-19-1987-cassie-yates-picture-id101616162


Killed the show dead. When they left.
 

Michael Torrance

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I read spoilers here and there about what happens on the show, and it appears I have missed absolutely nothing in 6 years. Liam still can't decide who he loves more, Ridge and Brooke keep on disagreeing about their daughters, Taylor is still blaming everyone else but pretending to be a good psychiatrist. Time stands still. And there's only Stephanie Junior to root for.

Many critics think that is the show's strength: sticking to the core families. Whether you were watching in 1987 or now in 2018, you know it's about the Forresters, the Logans, and the Spencers.
 

Emelee

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Many critics think that is the show's strength: sticking to the core families. Whether you were watching in 1987 or now in 2018, you know it's about the Forresters, the Logans, and the Spencers.

It needs to be about them, but the storylines don't need to be recycled 50 times.
 

Michael Torrance

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It needs to be about them, but the storylines don't need to be recycled 50 times.

One of the best lines I remember in Soap Opera Digest about B&B (but really it is true of all serial drama) is "the very things fans claim they want and will walk out if they don't get,it is what will put them to sleep if the show makes the mistake of giving it to them." The show got decades out of the Brooke/Ridge/Taylor triangle and I imagine that they are aiming for the same with Hope/Liam/Steffy.
 

Michael Torrance

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When Mary Duvall (Harley Jane Kozak) was ridiculously killed off on Santa Barbara, ratings took a quick nosedive and the show took 18 months to return to the same numbers.
 

Sarah

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Sue Ellen leaving Dallas was it for me. Not only did I have to watch the disintegration of my beloved show, but her departure changed JR indefinitely. 'Without Sue Ellen, JR was much less' is a famous quote from one of the writers at the time.

JR turned into an absolute shadow of his former self. The introduction of much less interesting characters and actors who didn't have the strength of the original cast soon followed.

It was a terrible time in my life. I'm still not over it. :fp:
 

Carrie Fairchild

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Sue Ellen leaving Dallas was it for me. Not only did I have to watch the disintegration of my beloved show, but her departure changed JR indefinitely. 'Without Sue Ellen, JR was much less' is a famous quote from one of the writers at the time.

JR turned into an absolute shadow of his former self. The introduction of much less interesting characters and actors who didn't have the strength of the original cast soon followed.

It was a terrible time in my life. I'm still not over it. :fp:

Sue Ellen leaving was the end of the strong Ewing daughter in laws on the show. Her, Pam, Donna and even Jenna (I'd controversially argue) were "vintage Dallas". After that, it was a slew of unmemorable blow ins. I was watching some scene recently where Michelle was stomping around Southfork in a rage following the arrival of James' other wife and I just thought " what the f*ck is this sh*t?". They all felt like imposters hanging around the living room. Nonentities in the Dallas universe.
 

Emelee

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One of the best lines I remember in Soap Opera Digest about B&B (but really it is true of all serial drama) is "the very things fans claim they want and will walk out if they don't get,it is what will put them to sleep if the show makes the mistake of giving it to them." The show got decades out of the Brooke/Ridge/Taylor triangle and I imagine that they are aiming for the same with Hope/Liam/Steffy.

The Brooke/Ridge/Taylor triangle bored me half to death the last few years. At first I was rooting for Ridge with Taylor, but after 1999, I stopped caring. Ridge was best with Caroline (1987-1990) anyway.

Poor Steffy now must be stuck pining after Liam. What a cruel cruel fate!!!!! 2 men should be fighting for her. She shouldn't be a loser's reject.

B&B are doing (and have always done) too many triangles where 2 women fight over one man.
 

Sarah

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Sue Ellen leaving was the end of the strong Ewing daughter in laws on the show. Her, Pam, Donna and even Jenna (I'd controversially argue) were "vintage Dallas". After that, it was a slew of unmemorable blow ins. I was watching some scene recently where Michelle was stomping around Southfork in a rage following the arrival of James' other wife and I just thought " what the f*ck is this sh*t?". They all felt like imposters hanging around the living room. Nonentities in the Dallas universe.

I had to put someone in place on Twitter the other night who said that TNT should have continued with James Beaumont and his family carrying on the show.

I'd actually rather pickle my own head and serve it at the Southfork BBQ.

Sue Ellen and JR are the most important characters in any television series for me. I would never ever tire of watching them. Their chemistry and dynamic was off the chart. Anything that happened once they were parted just didn't wash. Their relationship was so important and even though I was only 15 at the time, I saw the whole show start to crumble once they split for that final time. It was literally painful (from a personal point of view too), to watch.
 
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bmasters9

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The Streets of San Francisco-- when Michael Douglas (who was Insp. Steve Keller) left out after the fourth go to start making movies (he would hit it big in movies, and never come back to television), the late Richard Hatch (who would play Insp. Dan Robbins) replaced him for the fifth and final go (1976-77).

However, that did not affect my enjoyment thereto, as Karl Malden's Lt. Mike Stone character was still the same character w/Hatch as Robbins, as he was w/Douglas as Keller, and that's why that 70s ABC police procedural is a staple of mine on DVD, both w/Keller and w/Robbins.
 

thomaswak

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21 Jump Street : when Tom Hanson (Johnny Depp) left, the shows doomed. I wasn't interested anymore.
Airwolf : same fate when Hawke (Jan-Michael Vincent) left. 5yes I was a kid, so I liked Airwolf)
The Dukes of Hazzard : when Bo & Luke went away, the show was lost. Even their return couldn't save it. Ahhh, those greedy producers thinking actors are just devices for their "talent". (when I was a kid, I had no clue I'd be interested in men, later... But even as a kid, for some reasons, Bo & Luke replacements did not get me excited to watch the show)
Dynasty : when Karen Cellini left, the show never recovered. Nahh, just kidding.
 
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bmasters9

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Airwolf : same fate when Hawke (Jan-Michael Vincent) left.

And that is also, IIRC, when Airwolf had that infamous fourth and final go for USA in 1987 (Airwolf in name only).

To be honest, Airwolf was never one of my favorites anyway, but that USA go in 1987 really turned a lot of people off (outside of the hardcores, who stood with it even after the CBS run and into that USA go).
 

thomaswak

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And that is also, IIRC, when Airwolf had that infamous fourth and final go for USA in 1987 (Airwolf in name only).

To be honest, Airwolf was never one of my favorites anyway, but that USA go in 1987 really turned a lot of people off (outside of the hardcores, who stood with it even after the CBS run and into that USA go).

I was not a fan, but at the time in France, there wasn't much choice. I was a kid, I spent too much time watching TV. I thought the helicopter and the music were cool. But I surely did like the actors/charcaters too. When Hawke & Santini were gone, the music and the "copter" were not enough... I stopped watching.
 

bmasters9

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I was not a fan, but at the time in France, there wasn't much choice. I was a kid, I spent too much time watching TV. I thought the helicopter and the music were cool. But I surely did like the actors/charcaters too. When Hawke & Santini were gone, the music and the "copter" were not enough... I stopped watching.

Very true-- unlike The Streets of San Francisco, which remained very much the same show/format even when Hatch came in in place of Douglas, Airwolf was whole-hog different (even to the cheapness of being made on video for USA, instead of on film for CBS).
 

rayray

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Going waaaay back - Kate Jackson leaving Charlie's Angels. While many remember the show fondly from its initial season with Farrah, the show actually picked up in quality for a moment with Cheryl Ladd as the First Replacement Angel. By the time Kate left/was fired/whatever, the show was already fading fast -- and then we got SHelly Hack (who I loved at the time, mimicking her model-ish walk as a preteen gay boy) and then Tanya Roberts (RIP - who I was also happy about when she was announced as the Final Replacement Angel, as she was another New Yorker -- then my enthusiasm faded reaaaal fast when I watched her read her lines. )
 
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