DRW50

The fondness TPTB have for JPS and "Vanna" seem to cloud anything they write for Valentin. That's why I do wonder if we will get a turnaround on Drew soon enough. I'm surprised they haven't yet, as they have been fine with killing other stories which could have had ready-made drama. They're so lucky Jane was willing to come back. I'm glad they are least allowing Tracy to have some layers and not just be the shrill figure the 'good' characters jeer at.

She's been saying this for several years now. I'm not sure why it's getting headlines again. Maybe because of her recent podcast skirmish. A lot of people say positive things about porn while they are in it and say something very different after they leave, but I genuinely hope she does feel fulfilled.

I have never really watched full episodes anyway, in recent...um...decades, and am just glad people are still putting up clips. If it's Q-adjacent or some of the moments with other characters like Lucas, Ric, Alexis, Trina, I am more likely to watch, and they do still manage some good scenes here and there. I wonder if I am luckier than if I was watching in full because in full these scenes would be about 5 minutes spread out between more of Sonny shouting robotically, Kristina's dead baby tour, and Joss playing Honey West.

Most of Tracy's backstory has its logic with David Lewis' Edward as even when he was "loving," he seemed distant. In contrast, John Ingle was outwardly ruder but more of a cuddly figure, so it doesn't register as much for why Tracy became who she was.

RIP Mark Dobies. Mark Dobies Dead, Guiding Light, One Life to Live Obituary

He must have watched a lot of Police Academy. I mainly remember him from his ultimately pointless GL run but he was a handsome guy, and he played whatever he was given as best he could. His OLTL work in particular was unplayable, but he got through. And the story will always be talked about, for worse or worse.

I agree it was in character for Tracy. What never worked for me was Geary going to the press claiming that Luke loved Tracy. I don't believe he was ever capable of love, especially by that point. That's part of it, and I felt like Genie lost a great deal of her passion and focus when she had to return to the show in 1998, before she was comfortable returning. Her work has never really seemed the same to me.

I suppose I would too, but I do think things are different now, and they are just going to get worse. I'm not going to act like the story would have happened if this was ten years ago or fifteen years ago - my guess is anything that did just got through because of the strike - but we're heading into a period where I won't be surprised if within a year or two none of the remaining soaps have lgbt characters. That is probably not for this thread anymore, I admit.

I will say I don't really blame Frank in this instance. Having lgbt teens has always been dicey for soaps, and we are in an increasingly anti-gay period of our country's history. There are laws being proposed that would make us like Russia. The UK, which is often painted as more tolerant than the US, had Emmerdale (like GH, on a mainstream television channel) telling a gay story with a boy who was played by an age-appropriate actor. When he was given a love interest, the show was accused of grooming, even though the other boy was the same age and it was nothing more than the usual tale of one of the boys not being sure of his feelings. They quickly wrote the other boy out and the main boy barely appears now. The mistake was in ever telling the story in this climate. I do not believe it was ever going to get through. And truth be told I do not believe GH was ever the show that was going to tell this story, as the Labine era many rightfully revere was only about 2-3 years out of 60+. Lucas' story in the '00s was, somehow, a high water mark.

I'm talking about two of Liz's children being written out and no plans for them to return beyond Cameron's brief visit.

I have a feeling Aiden will be sent away anyway, as all of Liz's kids seem to be.

Thanks! That's very kind of you.

Thanks so much @VelekaCarruthers . What a gift. Can't wait to read this later.

Thanks. I remember some fans saying they thought Tyler Christopher kind of checked out after the awful treatment of Stefan/Stephen. I have vague memories of Luke in the late '90s suggesting he'd been with other women (and maybe Tammy [not counting the sex they had when he and Laura were separated]), but maybe I am mixing that up with later rewrites.

Thanks. I wasn't watching very much at the time of the second wedding but I think it only really works if that was the last time we ever saw Laura.

I can't remember what they did with Stefan at this time. I know Stephen Nichols left after Chloe was murdered. He wanted to leave, right? Was he back for Endgame? I know they had the awful return a few years later that trashed Stefan and killed him. I didn't realize Geary and Genie had bad feelings about the mid '00s wedding. To me Tony's hostility toward the pairing started popping up onscreen around '98 or '99, as they started all but saying that Luke was sleeping with prostitutes through the marriage.

I think we need a long break from more Family Feuds. A Pyramid or something like Classic Concentration or Sale of the Century could be fun. I'd really like a half hour soap too, unlikely as it is.

I could see it just being Susan, given her importance to AMC.

Claudia Lamb (Heather Hartman on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman) recently said on bluesky that she auditioned for Terry Farrell's role in Paper Dolls.

I'm glad you are enjoying it. Marj's Alex was a daffier Vanessa. Ric was always a good looking guy, even when it took GL a long time to see it.

On a show where so many I don't want to see hang around and hang around, I don't mind having someone I find easy on the eye and a likeable enough support character, but there's definitely a strong case for him to go.

I can never remember - is the room Chase, Lois, Brook Lynn and Gloria had all the conversations in recently meant to be a library or some area separate from the living room? I like this room more for intimate conversations, and it fits the somber moments taking place in this story. I'll always associate the main Q room (which is also redone of course into that greyish bunker) with the more vibrant, mostly gone members of the family anyway. Gloria's brief return just reminds me of how little spark Amanda Setton has compared to Rena Sofer and Ellen Travolta, but at least now there's more reason with the baby shame secret. Bedroom chastity aside, I do think Setton and Josh Swickard work well enough together as they both have a certain earnestness above all else in their work. Swickard does bring glimpses of crazy from time to time, which might be interesting if or when he ever snaps at just how much he's gone through in the last year (father dead, brother and niece gone, sterile, his pal has a baby with his wife, etc.). I know for many years a soap would have had Brook Lynn fall for Dante or the two of them sleep together after the truth comes out (maybe a few months later, as Gio, who isn't coping well, overdoses and they are grief-stricken), leading Chase to go apeshit or die in some kind of primal screaming-laden car crash. I would probably just throw him at Willow (maybe she would lure him to the dark side and use his police ties to that end) instead of killing him off, but I see the possibilities. A part of me feels a little sad at my old Qs being replaced by so many Lois/Olivia-adjacent offspring and their stories, but that's how it goes, I guess. At least Tracy does fit in with these dynamics and the show is allowing her a few human moments. It's just all this airing at the same time as we are waiting to hear of Monica's death reminds me of just how complete the changeover is. "It's my house." And...it isn't anymore. It never will be again. Still, I will take a new Q era over having no Qs beyond Jason and the tatters of his harem.

Thanks. I forgot about that. She did give Belinda the romance with Adrian, which was pleasant, if a B/C story (the next regime dumped her - one of many reasons I lost interest in the show at that time). Maybe Marshall was just always willing to play whatever and then go home (she must have been to get through her Passions run - I recently saw some clip where her entire scene amounted to manipulating her vulnerable niece and having inner monologues calling her sister a "slut" about 3 times). The Nadine stuff was the toughest for me to read of the three, but they were all offputting in their own ways. I was always torn between respecting Logan's opinion and cringing at his star!@#$%^&*]ing ways - he will forever be immortalized for me because his column is where I first saw that PR photo JFP used for years, as well as Guza in his oh-so-badass shades and leather jacket.

That would have made sense - it's not as if there is anything holding back a Maria appearance (and Frank could have cast another generic piece of ass to play Sam). That would have made sense, although didn't she drug him, so it would have been rape (if GH now considers women assaulting men to be rape).