Let's start with one of those unavoidable examples: a character with history ignored in order to keep the role going. Victor Newman is one of those characters. When Eric Braeden first came on the show in the role, Victor was a villain-and what a villain! His portrayal proved so dynamic that this "minor" plot point has been ignored over the years. Today, Braeden is one of the show's leading men. The character has never lost his edge, but his knife-wielding days are long forgotten.

Then there is Jill Abbott and Katherine Chancellor Sterling (Jess Walton and Jeanne Cooper of "The Young and the Restless"). Katherine's breast cancer scare was touching and seeing Katherine and Jill come together added an intriguing new dimension to their relationship. To confuse us, the show has thrown out this budding friendship as if it never happened. How much more moving it would have been if these two women faced Katherine's request for Jill to name her child Phillip as former adversaries trying to put the past behind them instead of as bitter enemies of days gone by.