Friday, August 27, 2010

Rumor Alert: Is Roger Howarth Coming Back To ONE LIFE?

The rumors about Roger Howarth's alleged return to ONE LIFE TO LIVE are circulating fast and furious.  Is he coming back? Is he really Todd? Is Tea going to hallucinate him? And if they bring Roger Howarth back as Todd then who could be next? Mia Korf as Blair?

In my opinion, this story could work, IF Roger Howarth returns as Walker, Mitch Laurence's long-lost brother.  As OLTL viewers recall, Todd Manning (off camera) got plastic surgery in early 2003 to make himself look like Walker Laurence, and came to town (as Trevor St. John) to flirt with Blair (and Dorian!).  If Walker decided to get plastic surgery to look like Todd's former self (Howarth) for revenge, then all hell would delightfully break loose in Llanview.

What would NOT work in this case is a DAYS-style faux-Roman story.  For those not familiar, Drake Hogestyn was successfully recast as  Roman Brady in 1986 after Wayne Northrop left the role.  When Wayne wanted back on the show in 1991, the writers concocted a wild retcon in which Drake was not really Roman Brady, and everyone in town had been fooled for five years (including his wife Marlena!).  For OLTL to pull the same stunt with Todd Manning would be unwise and an insulting slap in the face to viewers who have embraced St. John in this role.

What do YOU think? Does Roger Howarth fit into the current landscape of Llanview?  And do you want him back as Todd, Walker, or someone else?

18 comments:

  1. I have so many thoughts on this: I think that people were soooo heistant to accept St. John in the role at first; but ultimately his talent, charimsa and charm won almost everybody over. I am a big fan and i'm going to be honest as great as Howarth is when he wants to be i consider him a very lazy actor; he gets bored quickly with his work and eventually phones it in.

    I think they need to be very careful about what they decide to do with this; i think it could work if we found out that Todd had a secret twin we never knew about. perhaps Victor Lord in his cruelness kidnapped Todd's twin from Irene Manning and sent him off someplace awful to live; perhaps with Mitch Laurance or something? idk... maybe he comes to Lainview, and unknowingly runs into Todd and they must figure out who the hell they are to each other?

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  2. Frankly, I'll take Roger as Walker Laurence. It's well-documented that he didn't like playing Todd because he was extremely uncomfortable with his viewing public romanticizing his image & role as a rapist.

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  3. In a single word: NO! I'm not a fan of Roger Howarth; however, it was that about him which caused me to loathe Todd during the Howarth incarnation. I'll give him props for his acting. For die hard OLTL fans, Howarth will be a major distraction.

    What ABC Daytime fails to recognize is OLTL has been one of those serials which has been consistent, relevant and a mirror of our times. In the last 5 or 6 years, they've taken the show off Agnes Nixon's track. Trevor St. John has created a Todd Manning worth our time. His acting, screen presence and recreation of Todd has brought him to the brink of being a hero on the show.

    OLTL has been on shaky ground this year including a miscast Inez Salinger and a lost opportunity in a Blair/Eli romantic saga. They have that Danielle Steele "look" which destined them for a ratings hit.

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  4. I like boidiva02's suggestion of a secret twin. I would make him a really nice guy. Like a humanitarian or a doctor. That way, when Nora and Marty and all Todd's other victims see him, they have to deal with looking at the face of someone who terrorized them but is a nice guy. Then you can have him fall for Blair and have her decide between the real Todd who is bad and the "old" Todd who is good.

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  5. I'm also liking the aforementioned twin idea, it is a classic soap twist, but one that could work appropriately in this context.

    Unfortunately, given the current pattern of story telling, I'm afraid the "twin" would start out as a good guy and then descend into an Eli-Ross-et al "bad guy" psycho track that would leave us viewers wondering why they brought RH back in the first place.

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  6. The disrespect would come from ignoring that RH created the iconic role of Todd Manning. TSJ is Walker, not the other way around.
    Let him be Walker, that's who he came to town as in the first place. He is the imposter, not RH. And I don't say this just because RH is the superior actor, but because I am a Todd Manning fan and I want Todd as well as RH back on my screen. We haven't had him for many years.

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  7. I'm a huge Roger Howarth fan. I've been a 45 year viewer of ATWT and I've watched OLTL since it's inception. I think I have to go with Greenb2's idea. Bring him back as Walker Laurence. They could reunite Blair with him and I could have my cake and eat it too, plus it would drive Starr literally out of her simple little mind.

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  8. Roger Howarth comes to town as Walker Lawrence. Along with him comes his twin son and daughter who wreak havoc on the citizens. The kids move in with Vicki & Charlie and, at Walker's command, drug her. They break up the Jessica & Brody and Natalie & John. And then they kidnap Todd and lock him in a cage where Walker taunts him as he infiltrates Todd's home by claiming he's the real Todd and the other guy who "ran off" was actually Walker. Fake Todd romances Blair and she agrees to marry him. Starr and Jack do not believe he is Todd and track down the real Todd, but end up in the cage with him. Blair marries Fake Todd without a pre-nup and he takes control of her fortune when she suddenly becomes "ill". Fake Todd puts Vicki in the cage with the others and claims she left down to get treatment for her "illness". He moves into the mansion with Natalie and Jessica, steals their babies, and reveals that he is actually Mitch Lawrence having had plastic surgery to look like Todd!

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  9. I totally understand why folks love RH's version of Todd but TSJ has lifted him out of so much darkness. OLTL ultimately is about family. Todd never had that. He does now on so many levels. If Tea had legitimately died of a brain tumor there could have been a spell binding story for Todd, Dani and the rest of Llanview. Carlotta could have played into it in a major role. It would have been gut wrenching and classic soap. Now all we have is a parody.

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  10. Have to say I feel their is more storyline potential in Roger coming back as TODD. If he is Walker, a twin or someone else....so what. It's like, ok he look like Todd use to and... the shock is over in three episodes. If he comes back as the real Todd the ramifications can play out for years.

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  11. I agree with iluvjason, make RH Todd so the connection is complete with James, Starr, Ben, Blair, Dorian, Danni. Make TSJ Walker, he does have connection to Todd meaning brother being sold by Victor, wanted to make Todd pay but instead fall in love with Blair, & family and does have a great connection to his family Vicki, Jessica etc. Mix it up and let Blair figure out who does she love Todd 1 or Todd 2 more, classic soap and let the RH & TSJ fight over Blair and Tea (keep her alive)!!

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  12. Roger:
    People change over time, but of we want to discuss him historically, his views would not interfere with him playing Todd now. I was behind him all the way with not romanticizing a rapist. I was a young girl with the whole Luke/Laura situation and I know the damage it caused first hand. But Roger has also explained its the context of the thing, something along the lines of the idea that going in a really soapy direction or having a new face, that it could give the pause needed for it to be responsible.

    And historically speaking, I think he was more interested in the darker characters, but if he's changed as much as I have coming into my 40s now too, who is to say if he still wants those characters anymore. Historically, I'd say Roger would want to play Walker.

    I think it all comes down to what the direction of the show is, because I don't think anything they could do now would be like the moral reprehensible change up of a rapist to a romantic hero. The character has just changed too much for that to be an issue.

    With that, I'm going to say that making him Todd again is the best possible use for him. He created the role, won an emmy and Trevor knew the score when he took it on.

    If not, the Walker Lawrence story would work, but at that point, we're stretching so far to trade faces that the show might as well do a real Todd story.

    Something tells me its as simple as Todd declaring that he wants to look like his old self again, Trevor is history.

    I know he has fans, and I do like him, but he was never Todd to those who knew that character. He is definitely no Laura Wright playing Carly.

    If they want to keep him, they will find a story, and I loved the Roman story and followed Drake Hogenstyn to John Black, even had a poster on my wall of him in a sexy brown leather jacket.

    If Trevor has a following worth keeping, let him flesh out his own character like Drake did.

    JMHO.

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  13. I'm in favor of a Howarth return as Todd. (not that I don't appreciate St. John) But...I think Howarth brought much more depth to the character. There were possibilities. I mean, can you imagine St. John showing emotion or feeling (good or bad?) Not to mention the face fact that the cute little actor playing Jack is the spitting image of Roger! Perhaps the Todd character could do a "180" with Howarth recast in roll and become the "bad", good boy! If Howarth had issues playing a rapist, let him change all that and be with Marty! Good story there as she struggles with forgiveness.

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  14. forgot to mention that i totally agree with iluvjason in that TSJ is Walker, not the other way around.

    I'm always 100% in favor or original actors recast in their rolls. This one especially. (not so much Lucky on GH, the guy cries way too much!)

    But, in general, I think the story-line would work wonderfully if TSJ was a "fake" Todd (or Walker) and Howarth came back. But there needs to be some character adjustment...Todd needs to go through some major changes.

    There's so much that can be incorporated in this idea.

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  15. Im a big RH fan and I loved his acting I followed him to ATWT and he is capable of pulling Walker Lawrence off
    I truly believe that . I'm not a fan of TSJ but I do Like him with Tea . I Love the idea of the real Walker played by RH with Blair she would totally freak . We need some real drama this twin story line has ready to give up OLTL in its entirety and Marty could you imagine
    she would actually get a great storyline for once to deal with a Todd look alike the possibilities are endless
    I know they wont bring him back because it makes sense to do it they rather create stories where you can predict how it ends.

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  16. Excuse me the Natalie & Jessica pregnancy storyline
    I meant

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  17. TJS is a good as Todd, but I like RH better, that is the Todd I grew up watching. I think that TJS will be an imposter in HR's employee to keep his crazy dames and daughters in check, at least, that is what I am hoping for. I don't think I could believe RH as any other character on OLTL. TJS has more softness to him than RH.

    Just my 2 cents.

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