Wishful Casting

Wishful Casting: Where Should Greg Vaughan Go Next?

Submitted by Jamey Giddens on September 28, 2009 - 7:19pm



I tell you what, ABC Daytime is gonna give me carpal tunnel yet! I know a lot of Greg Vaughan's fans aren't exactly sharing in my immense joy about the return of the ultimate Lucky Spencer, Jonathan Jackson, to General Hospital, so to soothe them I will go ahead and do a Wishful Casting for the talented actor. What about Vaughan as Nicholas Alamain on Days of Our Lives? Carly Manning (Crystal Chappell) returns to Salem this Friday, her son can't be too far behind right?  READ MORE

Wishful Casting Double Header: Eric Braeden as GH's Mikkos Cassadine; Michael Nader as Y&R's Victor Newman

Submitted by Jamey Giddens on September 28, 2009 - 1:59pm



Okay, so y'all know how I do it. One horse can't stop the Kentucky Derby! Since Eric Braeden and The Young and the Restless are both digging in their heels, what about Dynasty and All My Children veteran Michael Nader as Victor Newman?

I know Nader had a few, um "issues" a couple of years back, but hell, if Whitney Houston could finally realize crack really is whack, there's help for anybody. Erica Kane's best love interest ever was on Cold Case the other night and from the looks of things, he can still bring it. I say give him a chance at playing The Mustache, at least until Braeden and Y&R get their ish together. I also wouldn't mind Jed Allan as Victor... (Jamey ducks from tomatoes thrown by GH fans who are still smarting over my beloved C.C. Capwell's stint as Jed-ward on GH). READ MORE

Wishful Casting: The Complete Guiding Light Edition

Submitted by Jamey Giddens on September 24, 2009 - 1:15pm

Photo provided by TeleNext. Credit: JPI


Long before it was announced that broadcasting's longest running program was being booted from the airwaves, I started brainstorming about where Guiding Light's amazingly-talented cast could end up. Sure, I've done a Wishful Casting here or there concerning GL actors, but now it's time to compile a definitive list of where I, in my oh-so-humble opinion, feel the Peapack refugees should end up.

Grant Aleksander: The most obvious choice would be for Aleksander to return to All My Children as bad boy Alec McIntyre, ex-husband of Hayley and biological papa of Tom and Livia Frye's adopted son Jamal. However, without any of the characters he has strong ties to currently getting their mail sent to Pine Valley, 90210, it could be a hard sell. That could of course be solved fairly quickly by recasting Hayley and Jamal. See below. I could also get on board with the idea of seeing Aleksander recreate the role of Dr. Tom Hardy on General Hospital. GL and GH were timeslot competitors in much of the country. Bringing on Springfield's favorite son to play Audrey and Steve's son would be quite the snag for Fronsie. Maybe they could even thrown in Victoria Rowell as Tom's ex-wife Simone? READ MORE

Wishful Casting: GL's Liz Keifer as ATWT's Frannie and Sabrina Hughes!

Submitted by Jamey Giddens on August 20, 2009 - 12:10pm



With so much going on with the Hughes family on As The World Turns, wouldn't it be great for Dr. Bob's lookalike daughters Frannie and Sabrina Hughes to pop up in Oakdale? I have the perfect actress in mind to recreate the roles Julianne Moore made popular before going on to movie stardom, and P&G is already quite familiar with her work. I'm talking about Guiding Light's Liz Keifer!

I started watching GL in 1993 after my beloved Santa Barbara went to the Great Soap Opera Museum in the Sky. Immediately, I took to the sassy, saucy C. Blake Thorpe, as played by the ravishing Keifer. Blake was my kind of soap character, a sexy schemer, cut from the same cloth as her infamous father Roger Thorpe (the late Michael Zaslow), yet possessing the heart of her mother, dedicated-yet-neurotic journalist Holly Norris (Maureen Garrett).
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Wishful Casting: Finola Hughes as Lesley-Anne Down's Sister on Bold and Beautiful

Submitted by Jamey Giddens on August 19, 2009 - 2:38pm


(Photo Credit for Finola Hughes ABC; Photo Credit for Lesley-Anne Down Reuters)

While watching and— for a change— thoroughly enjoying The Bold and the Beautiful this week, I can't help but think how great it is to see Ian Buchanan onscreen again as Dr. James Warrick. I think all soaps should have more British people. They just class up the joint! Before serving as B&B's answer to Dr. Phil, James had a storied history with the Women Forrester, including an attempted romance with Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang), and a shared attraction with Stephanie (Susan Flannery). 

Who could forget James being deflowered by fellow psychiatrist Dr. Taylor Hayes (Hunter Tylo) at Big Bear? Obviously Ridge (Ron Moss) has, since he sent not one, but both of his less-than-merry wives up to the cabin with the shrink this week. READ MORE

Strasser as B&B's Margo? GH's Dominica? DAYS' Anjelica? Y&R's Julia Newman? Relax, Just Wishful Castings

Submitted by Jamey Giddens on July 11, 2009 - 10:39am



In the comments section of the Wishful Casting poll I posted about Who Should Play One Life to Live's Dorian Lord should ABC and Robin Strasser not come terms, DC reader scoboot requested I do a Wishful Casting about Strasser's possible post-OLTL prospects. Now remember, Strasser is waiting until Fronsie comes back from vacation to make any decisions about her future on OLTL, but here's what I've come up with just the same!

All My Children: READ MORE

Wishful Casting Poll: If Robin Strasser Leaves, Who Should Play OLTL's Dorian Lord?

Submitted by Jamey Giddens on July 10, 2009 - 1:40pm



Okay, let me start off by saying I hope Robin Strasser will be on One Life to Live until the last plate of hash is served up at the Bon Jour Cafe. That being said, I have to do what I do. If I could write Wishful Castings for Jill Abbott and Nikki Newman, I gotta do one for Dorian Lord , but this time I'm gonna make it interactive, and ask you, our readers who you would like to see fill the role of Dorian— if anyone— should Strasser announce her exit today on her hotline?
 
For my money Anna Stuart (ex-Donna, Another World; ex-Vanessa, Guiding Light; ex-Mary, All My Children) would be the best fit. Stuart has mastered the art of playing the glammed out bee youch. If the show wants someone more in the vein of Strasser's larger-than-life style, there's also Louise Sorel (ex-Augusta, Santa Barbara), or Marj Dusay—suggested by one of my secret soap pals— who will soon finish her run as Aunt Alex on Guiding Light. If OLTL wants to grab a headline, Raquel Welch could be fun.  What do you think, if Strasser leaves, who should play Dorian Lord?  

Wishful Casting: Jessica Leccia as Rafe's Sister Arianna on DAYS

Submitted by Jamey Giddens on June 19, 2009 - 7:55pm



In Michael Fairman's new interview with Crystal Chappell for Advocate.com he mentions how awesome it would be for Days of Our Lives ot snap up the other half of the insanely popular Otalia, Jessica Leccia.

You told Jessica you were going to go back to Days. How did that go?
I did tell Jessica, and she texted me back and said, Yay! Employment. You know, that is what we all wish for each other. It was funny. I had this wonderful news breaking last Friday. I am so lucky as an actor to have a job these days, but I really thought it hit me hard. I am the first one to announce: Hey, I’m going over here, and you could kind of see that people were so happy for me, but there was a weight that fell on the group. I kind of felt it all weekend. I am vacillating between extreme relief and joy and excitement about going back and trying something old and making it new again. At the same time I was feeling devastated. So, it was this weird emotional breakup at some level. READ MORE

Wishful Casting: Cloris Leachman as Y&R's Mary Williams

Submitted by Jamey Giddens on June 16, 2009 - 11:55am



Like so many fans of The Young and the Restless, the current storyline featuring Stacy Haiduk as the brilliantly-unhinged "Mary Jane" aka Patty Williams, has me rushing home to my DVR everyday like I'm about to watch a marathon of True Blood or something, however there is one thing that could make the story even juicier— an appearance from Paul (Doug Davidson) and Patty's malevolent mother Mary Williams!

Played from 1980-2004 by the phenomenal Carolyn Conwell (who originally tested for the role of Dr. Marlena Evans on Days of Our Lives), Mary hasn't been mentioned much in recent years. This classic character simply has to come back from her extended church trip, or potluck, or wherever she is, to see what a whackadoodle her daughter has become (I think she would say it was the devil!), not to mention to react to the news that Paul is marrying ex-stripper and venereal disease spreader Nikki Reed (Melody Thomas Scott)! READ MORE

Wishful Casting: Lawrence Saint-Victor as General Hospital's Tommy Hardy

Submitted by Jamey Giddens on June 12, 2009 - 8:21am



Hey brass at General Hospital, wanna a.) give the fans what they want in terms of more storylines featuring the hospital and b.) actually tell a storyline featuring people of color on your canvas as opposed to simply having them provide psychiatric counseling, prenatal advice and sassy commentary at the nurses' station? How about bringing back the character of Tom "Tommy" Hardy Jr. in the form of Guiding Light star and recent Ugly Betty guest Lawrence Saint-Victor?

As the son of Dr. Tom Hardy (last played by DAYS superstar Matt Ashford) and Tom's African-American ex-wife Dr. Simone Ravelle (last played by Felicia Bell), Tommy Hardy is a legacy character in the true definition of the word— the grandson of GH's first supercouple Dr. Steve (the late John Beradino) and Nurse Audrey (Rachel Ames), which makes Tommy a descendant of Port Charles' first family and a cousin to Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst).   READ MORE