DRW50

That's the key part - the idea that Chris and Dan were fired to roll out the red carpet for Mulcahey baffles me. The show had real problems. That's why someone stepped in and made some token changes (instead of going as far as they should have). We could say viewers didn't respond to his work, but we don't even know how much of that work was his. You can say oh the writing for women regressed, or things were dull, or there was too much focus on Jason and Carly rather than Jason and anyone else, but most of these were issues years before he returned to the show. Even most of the fan complaints I saw didn't blame him - they threw the blame squarely at Korte, because many of those fans know her trademarks and were seeing them all over the episodes. So even most of them know that nothing positive has come from this decision.

I wonder if that's just a cover to justify them moving away from a story they were never going to be comfortable with.

I guess people could hope for Sri Rao again.

I've seen people suggest he is moving toward Alexis.

I thought it might be Tabyana Ali, although admittedly I'm not sure she's "beloved" outside of a part of GH Twitter. Becky makes a lot of sense, especially now that the show is moving Finn (whom they are still invested in) elsewhere. I could see Cynthia Watros or Maura West going too.

Kim Zimmer said tonight on a Locher Room cancer fundraiser that she has been battling breast cancer. I know we'll all be sending her our best.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cnd6d7y11nwo Not entirely shocked at some of the celebrities (Sharon Stone, Stephen Fry, Liam Neeson) rallying around Spacey, but it is still disappointing.

I wonder what Dena is doing these days... (sarcasm aside, I genuinely do not know)

I wonder how much Korte has written the stories all by herself this whole time, with Mulcahey mostly just writing certain angles or scenes. Regarding The Gates - looking at the track record of soaps in the last 30+ years, it's not much to hope for. The only thing I want to believe is TPTB will be patient with ratings and that they will trust Michele Val Jean. And I know that's a lot to ask, but it's all we have.

I think GH has long had some weaker actors compared to other soaps, but the difference in earlier years was the structure could support them. You haven't had that structure which was a part of keeping GH going up to the '90s. I don't think most of the younger cast are any more dull or wooden than, say, Jon Hensley (as I saw him mentioned) was for years and years when he was younger, but current GH is not close to what ATWT was in the mid/late '80s and early '90s, so the likes of Dex or Joss stand out more.

There were moments which were pleasant surprises, like Bobbie's funeral, and even that they finally did try with Trina and Spencer, but I mostly wish it didn't have to feel like an anomaly. To be honest I'm not sure I remember ever thinking of Korte as a standout writer even with decades on the show. I do appreciate what we had with Stella. I know some fans feel some of her scenes should have gone to Portia, but I'll take any Vernee Watson I can get.

The tender material with Gregory feels like it might have been more from Mulcahey. I had forgotten Lane Davies was coming back. I guess they will just stick Finn with Alexis, but hopefully they can' find something worthwhile for Lane. Or at least not make him use a Colonel Sanders accent like MEK. I think what's most disappointing is now you won't even be able to look forward to those glimmers of quality or wondering what might be. Now you are just going to be shocked if there's one scene that doesn't feel lifeless or agenda-laden.

I was talking about the general treatment of the character. Frank and company apparently didn't see that as the right scene, whether we did or not. The only part of the story that could be interesting is the consequences for Laura, but it mostly seems like a way to keep a plot device psycho on the show, or an actress they like. That and firing Howarth. I wonder if there was any clashing over plans to get rid of the other pet (Easton).

I really have been out of the loop. I didn't even know that was a thing. They probably deserve Broadway legend Kelly Sullivan. Ava is one of many characters on this show where it just seems like she exists for the sake of a few thrown together scenes to appease her Twitter fans rather than actually going anywhere. I guess that's the future of the show, for worse or worse.

I think the days of soaps being that level of competition to each other, or anyone else, are long gone, although if it gives ABC an excuse to pull the plug and put on GMA Part 394 they might try. Ideally I would have thought that they brought Mulcahey in and made some other changes, like dumping Howarth, because they knew they had to shape up with a new soap on the way, but clearly that isn't the case. Good a writer as Mulcahey is (even if not necessarily as headwriter), he alone was never going to be enough to genuinely fix the show. I guess that will never happen, but if it does, it's going to take a big turnover. Not Korte, Von Etten, or other grinding mediocrities waiting out the clock.

The show is locked into the same lose-lose position as Goutman at ATWT and Wheeler at GL - Frank is not going to improve the show, he is incapable, but he is also likely the only reason the show is still on.

And not just him showing up, but the claims that he was fired and suddenly we got "oops he was there all along," like he was kept in a glass case marked Frankmergency. I wonder if Mulcahey was being undermined from the start as Frank didn't want him, like what Paul Rauch may have done to Claire Labine at GL. Absolutely. I know some fans were disappointed because he wasn't thrown back at Sam and Liz, but even if he had been, that ship has sailed. You can't rely on 20-25 year old memories. And the future scene the show could have built up, like Trina or Cam, the show has no interest in. Maybe they can dredge up more relatives for Carly and hope they luck into finding wonderful actors as that is seemingly the only path the show has these days.

I can't pretend I was watching regularly, but I did have more interest in the show again, after ignoring it (more out of apathy than any rage) for most of the last decade, but the analyses and interest from you and others in this thread did help capture my interest again. It could never last, but it was a nice dream.

It never can be said enough about the long-term rot in the genre due to the likes of DC becoming the mainstay for "journalism," and before that, Corday and others clamping down on the soap magazines.

I guess they assumed they would get more of a boost from Jason's return then they did, and Mulcahey was the scapegoat. We all pretty much knew this wasn't going to work out, we knew Frank and ABC were not going to ever take a risk on anything beyond the bare minimum, but I'm disappointed there was not more time given. And we can't even say they were kowtowing to fans because most of the fan anger I saw on Twitter was often toward Korte, who will still get to write whatever Carly and Joss centered material she wants. I really don't know if I believe the ratings will go up any even if they try to pull out the greatest hits - what ARE the greatest hits now anyway?

1996 episode starts at about 13-14 minutes.

That was a Senate campaign. Ross ran for mayor in 2002 or 2003. I think that was the campaign Danny tried to buy for himself, or something - I don't remember.

This Archive channel has a number of Neighbours episodes, along with parts of Home & Away, Flying Doctors, Young Doctors, E Street, and A County Practice. https://archive.org/details/@flemishdog2

Yes. That's how I saw the news, along with some funny FM clips (mainly of Carl looking disappointed).

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/15/supreme-court-louisiana-redistricting-00158249