Hot on the heels of the devastating news (at least it is to this fan) that Ricky Paull Goldin is leaving GL, now ATWT has confirmed that Martha Byrne will leave in the spring. Regardless of your opinion regarding their characters, why are these two stellar actors being allowed to walk out the door?
Did Ricky and Martha both refuse a paycut? PGP is widely known for needing to cut costs, and actors' salaries fall into that category. Ricky took a paycut during his last contract negotiation (according to published reports). Was he asked to take another one and refused? Did Martha, who has to be one of the highest paid actors on ATWT, also refuse the usual PGP paycut? No idea. But I refuse to believe that these actors walked out the door JUST because of money. Martha apparently wanted something in her contract that the powers-that-be just couldn't give her. Because I had the good fortune of participating with other fans in a recent Ricky chat, I'm sure that, during his negotiations, he wanted to know where his character was going in the next year. Watching Gus has been hard for me this past year, and I can't blame him for wanting some idea of where his character is going. Apparently, what he was told wasn't good enough to make him stay.
WHY are CBS, PGP, Mr. Goutman, and Ms. Wheeler allowing these actors to walk? These are good actors with loyal fanbases. Ricky is GL's biggest cheerleader, and Martha has been with ATWT since she was a teen. I just can't imagine that these two actors were asking for something so astronomical that an agreement couldn't be reached. I don't think shows should cater to actors' demands if they are unreasonable, but I do feel that if we can employ EPs who are dismantling our shows and making them unrecognizable, and we can hire writers who don't know and honor history, we can make some concessions for our GOOD actors -especially when ratings are already in the toilet.
There are so many unhappy fans right now. Neither of these departures will help their struggling shows. Shame on PGP and their EPs.
